Pastor’s Chronicle-July 2008

 

Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5


How easy it is to worry about how things are going. After all, gas prices are beyond imagination and threaten even to go higher. Then, of course, there is the stock market which is a good cause of stress. Then, of course, there is whole economic problem. Could any of us even imagine what a dozen eggs would wind up costing? We can also add an increasingly violent world, terrorist threats, and then there are fires, floods, and earthquakes. Yes, this is a worrisome time. It would be so easy to become hopeless and to enter into despair over the way things are going. That often happens when we become captured by the things going on in the world around us.

In these times we need to keep our eyes upon Christ and to know that in him, and only in him lies all hope. That is why Jesus said: “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” Jesus also said: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Both as individuals and as a church, we need to lay our burdens upon Christ and to never for one moment allow ourselves to lose hope. Now, this doesn’t mean that we sit back, put it all on Christ, twiddle our thumbs, and wait for him to miraculously take care of things. It does mean that we are to put our shoulders to the wheel, to do what we can in order to make things work, and to do so with our eyes solidly and faithfully on Christ.

Dr. Peter Marshall once told a moving story in a sermon he preached in the dark days of World War II. The Nazis had captured Norway, and they commended everyone in Oslo to come to the city square where they would be told what to do. After they read their manifesto, there was a moment of stunned silence. Then, simultaneously, in perfect harmony the people responded to the new regime by singing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

And, dear hearts, let us sing that in our souls in these uncertain times. Then, we will know the peace of God which passes all understanding.


Check out the Pastor's blog

Peek at this week's sermon