Encouragement from your pastors
April 8th, 2021Dear brother/sister in Christ,
Your elders are praying for you. We hope that encourages your heart. In the past year we have come through some difficult seasons of trial and testing. We read a little blog this week that highlighted the turmoil of the past year, and it reminded us about how each of you have struggled through some tough stuff of late. So, here are a few reminders that your elders remind each other of, and we want to encourage you to remember them along with us.
There is nothing new under the sun (Eccles. 1:9). Please, be careful who you are listening to. Be prudent. Be discerning. There has been and there always will be the nay-sayers. Apart from faith in God, the doom and gloom and unbelieving spin on daily events is what you expect. After all, in whom or what are they basing their hope, peace, and trust? Whatever is capturing the headlines today, it will be something else soon, and none of it is really “new”. God knows.
In Christ, all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Believe that! All things. Nothing will ever happen in your world, or in the wider world, or even in the cosmos which the Lord does not ordain and sustain. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). The details and the final word rest with God and not with governments, governors, or gurus.
God is good and does good (Ps. 119:68). Isn’t it heartbreaking that an entire world of people do not know, believe, live, or enjoy this truth? But you know it, believe it, live it, and you enjoy it even among all of the chatter and noise of unbelief all around you. Remember what you are hearing from Solomon in Ecclesiastes and enjoy your life! Heed Paul’s words, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4). Live your life to the full with faithfulness.
If you’ve ever wondered what your elders say to encourage each other in faithfulness during tough times, you can know that we make efforts at being reminded of these truths (and others J). We say them in different ways and at different times, and we try to keep it all grounded in the good providence of God loving us with fever fervency.
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart…” (1 Pet. 1:22).
In grace and truth,
Jeff & Greg