Struthers Memorial Group of Churches is an Independent Pentecostal Fellowship which has been in existence since the early 1950's. Early on in the history of the Movement, one of its founders, Mr Hugh Black, began to realise that at the time of the New Year there was often a sermon preached which came with deep power and contained an element of prophetic wisdom for the year that lay ahead. Soon members of the church began to anticipate this word coming and a note of these specific words has been kept since the mid-1960s.
In the early years the word was given by God to Miss Elizabeth Taylor, co-founder of the Struthers Group of Churches but in later years the word came through the late minister of the Glasgow Church, Miss Mary Black. In 2002 and later years, the Word was given by Mrs. Grace Gault, who is now in charge of the Group of Churches.
Past New Year Words
2012
"Be strong and finish the task! Don't be afraid. Be strong and get on with rebuilding the Temple."
Zechariah 8:9 & 13
2011
Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter.
Psalm 24:7, New Living Translation
2010
Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.
Psalm 126:5-6, New Living Translation
2009
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:10, AV)
2008
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. (Isaiah 44:3)
And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. (2 Samuel 23:4)
2007
And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Isaiah 4:5
2006: Year of the Revelation of God
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.
Haggai 2:9
2005
For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the LORD for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 55 v12-13
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-- "He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels'-- as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
Revelation 2:26
2004
He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground...
Isaiah 30:23a
The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
Isaiah 30:26
Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will 'pass over' it and will rescue it.
Isaiah 31:5
Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
Isaiah 32:2
2003
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even them that exult in my majesty. ... the Lord of hosts mustereth the host for the battle.
Isaiah 13: 3, 4b
This is the generation of them that seek after Him, that seek thy face, O God of Jacob. ... Lift up your heads ... and the King of glory shall come in.
Psalm 24:6, 7
2002
In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the winding serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing ye unto it. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud: and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come which were lost...and they that were outcasts...and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 27: 1-3, 6, 13 (see also Ezekiel 34: 25-28)
2001
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remeber his commandments to do them.
Psalm 103:9-18
2000
I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat...of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:22
Come up to me...and be there.
Exodus 42:12
1990-1999
1990
There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
Deuteronomy 11:25
And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
Joshua 10:25
1991
Behold I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exodus 23:20 (Reading continued to verse 30)
1992
(He) made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Psalm 78:52, *53, 54*, 66, *69* and *72* (Main verses in bold)
And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
Judges 18: 9 and 10
1993: Revelation of the Love of God to us and in us
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I wake, with thy likeness.
Psalm 17:15
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.
1 John 4:16 and 18a
1994: Revelation of His glory
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2 Corinthians 6:16b
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:14 and 18
1995: Year of Spiritual Wealth and Abundance
For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Psalm 132:13-16
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land
Isaiah 1:18 and 19
1996
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:8, 11 and 12
1997
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
Isaiah 54:2
1998
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Isaiah 9:2
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isaiah 10:27
1999
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29
If any of thine be driven out unto the outermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
Deuteronomy 34:4 & 5
1980-1989
1980: Treasures out of Darkness
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name am the God of Israel.
Isaiah 45:2 and 3
This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Isaiah 14:26 and 27
1981: Harvest – Being Strong – Beholding God
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:3, 4, 5 and 6
1982
Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, the holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Isaiah 62:10, 11 and 12
1983: Breaking the Yoke of Sin in Self and Others
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:6, 8, 11 and 12
1984
And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle and your beasts.
2 Kings 3:16
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Joel 2:31 and 32
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12
Neverthless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
John 16:7 and 8
1985
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Genesis 28:15
1986
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore they shall know in that day and I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
Isaiah 52:1, 2 and 6
1987
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Haggai 2:9
1988
Where there is no vision, the people perish
Proverbs 29:18
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Habakkuk 2:3
1989
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
Isaiah 52:1 and 2
Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25:14-30
1970-1979
1970: Concern for the Land
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
1971
Now mine eyes shall be open and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
2 Chronicles 7:15 and 16
1972: The Recompense of the Church - the flesh profiteth nothing
For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.
Isaiah 34:8
1973
Behold I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy.
Luke 10:9
1974: Signs Following
These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mark 16:17 and 18
1975: The Open Door
Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
Revelation 3:8
1976: Greater Understanding of the Open Door
I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my god, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 3:8, 11 and 12
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:6 and 7
If ye will still abide in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jeremiah 42:10 and 11
1977: Salvation and Jubilee
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Isaiah 42:9
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways and their pastures shall be in all high places.
Isaiah 49:8 and 9
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes
Isaiah 54:2
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2
1978: Expectation of Revival
For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh the water of the rain of heaven; A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
Deuteronomy 11:10, 11, 12, 13 and 14
1979: Faith in God
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1 John 5:14 and 15
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1 John 3:22
But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
1966-1969
1966: Year of Jubilee, A Year of Deliverance for the Church
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Leviticus 25:10
1967: Year of Progress in Freedom
- Action – Going Forward
1968: Year of the Revelation of God
- Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- God revealing the Trinity
1969: Possess Your Possessions
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions
Obadiah 1:17 - Later linked to the calling out of the young lions