| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Steadfast and immovable” Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts. I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty and your wonderous works. They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare your greatness. They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.” Psalm 145:1-7 (CSB) Our thought for today: “In war and in peace” Last night, as I watched the reports about the ongoing war in Ukraine on the evening news, my thoughts turned to my friends doing humanitarian work among the war refugees. One of them just returned home after more than a month there, one is still there, and a few others are running supplies into the refugee camps on both sides of the border between Ukraine and Romania. When the news was over, I picked up the current edition of Christianity Today magazine and read a story about how gunman burst into a worship serve in Monrovia, Liberia and killed twenty-eight Christians as they were in church – and I thought about another friend who will be in that country in a few days with a medical mission team. Then my thoughts turned to other friends who are serving as missionaries in an Islamic nation that is unwelcoming to Christian workers – and they must therefore be cautious and discrete all the time. Living and serving as a Christian in a world of war and chaos can be unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst. And that doesn’t synch well with the way I prefer to imagine the Christian life as being lollipops and gumdrops as my friends and I hold hands, skipping down the yellow brick road of life, singing “Kumbaya”, and enjoying the fruit of the Spirit. Oh, there are in fact many days like that, and I enjoy them and am grateful for them. There are days of peace and plenty, with birds singing, babies laughing, and when all seems right with the world. But there are also plenty of examples of death and destruction, of pain and heartache and trouble. Both are realities of life for us. For two thousand years, Christians have been steadfast and immovable in their determination to declare God’s greatness in good times and in bad, in war and in peace. And that’s why, despite all the world has experienced across the centuries, the kingdom of God on earth has continued to grow, and today there are more Christians on this planet than there have ever been in all of history. As bad as things seem today, all is not lost, and as Christians we are not desperate. Our God is sovereign over all of this; and as individuals, He has us exactly where He wants us to be in the middle of it all. We’ll think more about this tomorrow. For now, prayerfully consider the circumstances God currently has you in, be they good or bad, and how you should be handling those circumstances. I encourage you to be steadfast and immovable as you declare His greatness and advance His kingdom. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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