Being originally from Long Island, New York, I can identify with that lost traveler. Even though I have lived in this great state for more than a decade, I find that I am frequently asking for directions when going from one place to another. And while I am now somewhat confident as I drive north or south on Peachtree Street, I must confess that getting from east to west or vice versa in this city is still a mystery to me.

In fact, I have been told that the familiar phrase, "You can’t get there from here," may have originated years ago with someone in Atlanta who was trying to drive laterally from Midtown to Decatur, asked for directions, heard those words and never made it to his destination!

That may be local folklore, but on this first Sunday of another new year, the more I ponder the phrase "You can’t get there from here," the more I wonder if that might describe the way many of us feel about our journey through life.

Some of us live with the frustration that the goals we set as young adults for our career aspirations haven’t panned out as we thought they would. Others of us imagined how it might be after high school, that we’d go off to college, meet someone special, get married, start a family and live happily ever after. But that dream has yet to come true. There are those of us who had hoped to be financially stable at 50 or 60, able to retire early and enjoy the benefits of our labors as we watched the grandchildren grow up. But those best laid plans have not come to fruition because of poor health or economic conditions or broken relationships that we never expected to happen. And there are still others here who are just plugging along, counting the days as they pass by, or rushing forward like a freight train that can’t stop, and we’re wondering why we don’t feel more joy or meaning in our lives.

So although we thought we could get there from where we were years ago, we now know that it probably isn’t all going to happen exactly the way we had hoped. And if you have come here this morning with pain in your heart that needs to be healed, if you truly desire to leave the past behind and to find a new and promising future, if you are looking for a sense of direction and the courage and conviction to go on instead of giving up, then you are in the right place at the right time to hear the words which Jesus spoke long ago, words He still speaks to all of us today:

I am the way, the truth and the life,

No one comes to the Father, but by me

Remember, He said that at the Last Supper in the Upper Room to His first disciples and closest friends. They were anxious and afraid because Jesus had said that it was time for Him to leave them. So Thomas spoke up for all the others: Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?

Looking around that table with love in His eyes and compassion in His heart, Jesus answered, I am the way, and He went on to assure them that if they continued to follow and to believe in Him, He would lead them to the Father in heaven. That was the promise they needed to hear, and after Jesus’ death and resurrection, they remembered what He had said and discovered a new direction and a renewed sense of hope and expectation as they went out to tell the world about God’s Plan of Salvation!

It is that same good news of the gospel which we proclaim today, reflected in these exquisite stained glass windows surrounding us in this sanctuary. When our former pastor, Dr. J. Sprole Lyons and Louis Comfort Tiffany designed the theme for these windows back in 1917, they chose "God’s Plan of Salvation" and began with Abraham and Sarah accepting God’s call and covenant promise to become all that they were destined to be.

As the biblical story unfolds in each window, the Plan of Salvation is passed on to Moses, King David and the prophet Isaiah who foretold the birth of Jesus. Next we see Christ’s life and ministry, followed by His passion in the Garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion.

Across the other side of the sanctuary, we are led to Jesus’ resurrection, His ascension into heaven and then the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost. The progression of the windows follows the biblical account of the Christian martyrs, showing the stoning of Stephen and the missionary work and witness of the Apostle Paul across the Gentile world. Over the balcony is the depiction of Christ’s return to earth and above the chancel, the Rose Window reflects our glorified Lord as described in the Book of Revelation, encircled by angels lifting up their praise and adoration.

In each and every generation since this church was founded back in 1848, we have sought through the creation of these windows to remember and to rejoice in God’s Plan of Salvation. And as we have worshiped here down through the years, just imagine the countless numbers of people whose lives have been enriched and whose faith has been inspired, and whose hearts have been lifted above their distress and despair and struggle, and given a new opportunity to live a Christian life - all of that is reflected by this panoramic view around us, a vision in stained glass of God’s love, grace and forgiveness, revealed once and for all in the life, death and resurrection of His Son our Savior, Jesus.

So on this Founders’ Sunday we are here to remember that we are encompassed all around us in these windows by the story of salvation… and that we are surrounded, as the 12th chapter of Hebrews reminds us, by that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in the faith, people who have sat in these pews down through the centuries, people who sought to be faithful in their time and place as we do today. We are, my friends, surrounded by that vast cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in the faith.

And if we have come to this place today, on the first Sunday of another new year, wondering how to get there from here, wanting to leave the past behind and to embrace God’s vision of all that is yet to be, if we are looking for direction in our lives and the healing and hope that we need, then listen again to Jesus Christ who calls us to follow Him, saying I am the way, the truth and the life. He has promised to guide us and to come alongside us in the days and months which still lie ahead. And He invites us to this table now with open arms and a heart full of love, ready, willing and able to lead us to our Heavenly Father above.

My friends, we are on a journey together. We don’t know exactly where the Lord will lead us, but we do know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we do not walk alone!

"I know not where the road will lead I follow day by day, Or where it ends: I only know I walk the King’s highway. I know not if the way is long, and no one else can say: But rough or smooth, up hill or down, I walk the King’s highway. And some I love have reached the end, but some with me may stay, Their faith and hope still guiding me, I walk the King’s highway."

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.