Good morning everyone:
“Here, take this pill. You’ll feel better.” Would you pop it in your mouth and wash it down with a glass of water? It would depend on who was speaking, wouldn’t it? If it were a stranger on a street corner downtown, you wouldn’t even consider it. The person might be offering you an illegal drug which could cause irreversible harm, rather than good. On the other hand, if it was your doctor whom you’ve known for 10 years, why wouldn’t you take the medication? It’s a matter of trust, isn’t it? However, it’s not always easy to know whom you can count on. You can probably recall a time when you trusted someone and ended up disappointed or hurt, because they let you down. Some even say, “Trust no one!”
But there is One we can trust without any reservation or fear whatsoever. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Num. 23:19). Even when we don’t understand, even when it doesn’t make sense to our reason, even when we don’t immediately see the good, we can trust the Lord. Trust His motives: “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” He says (Jer. 31:3). Trust what He has done for you and all mankind: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Trust His plans for your future: “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2). He has never failed to keep His Word, and He never will.
Still, do you find your trust wavering at times? Do you wonder about His love when you’re sick or when there are problems at work or financial setbacks? Look to the Lord to sustain and build up your faith. Go to His Word. Sit down with your Bible and let the Spirit strengthen your trust. Come to church and be encouraged by the Lord and the fellowship of likeminded believers who know exactly how you feel, because they face the same challenges. Remember the Lord’s promise: “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).
Tomorrow’s sermon text (Malachi 3:13-18) offers encouragement to us who deal with the pressures of the world and our own doubts and fears while we wait for the Lord to return and take us home where there will be joys forevermore. It will be worth the wait!
Keep Todd Garvens in your prayers. He is hospitalized at Waukesha Memorial with a ruptured disc in his back.
The school children will sing in first service.
The adult Bible class will continue its study of Christian parenting.
The public school confirmation class will meet at 12:15.
In Christ’s name,
Pastor
