Pastor's Points - February 2021
Dear Church Family,
As we enter the month of February, we find ourselves in the middle of unknown times. Two of the biggest unknowns are the corona virus, and the new political landscape that we find ourselves in. How long will the virus last, what about the vaccine, what new policies will be put in place by the new president and how will they affect us personally, and corporately as a church? Good questions that I do not have the answers to. As we have been discussing in our recent sermon series, we have choices to make when facing the unknown. How will we respond when we find ourselves surprised by situations? Or how will we respond when we have no control over the situations we face? More good questions that we will answer by our responses to the unknown.
I have had recent conversations with people that are very concerned about the future. Their future, and our collective future as a church. So much is changing! So much is out of our control! So much is unknown! These statements are all true, but we serve a God that does not change, who is in perfect control, and is clearly known to us!! We of all people have reason to hope in 2021!! Our God is still on His throne!
God began leading me back in October to begin preaching through the book of Acts when the new year begun. And that is what I am going to do beginning in February. I do not believe there is a more relevant part of scripture for us to spend time in right now than this book. We will be encouraged as we look back at the testimony and faith of the first generation of Christians, and the power of the Holy Spirit on full display.
One theme we will find in Acts is that of apologetics. Apologetics is the branch of theology that is concerned with defending Christianity against accusations and error. One article I was reading stated, “In the early days of the church, many were accusing the Christians of being seditious against the Roman imperial government. Luke recorded several courtroom scenes and made it clear that whenever Christians came before the Romans, the Romans recognized that the Christians were good, peaceful citizens. The real trouble, Luke showed, came from those Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah, and who thus were angry at the Christians who claimed Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises.” In our day we are going to have to be willing to give a defense as to why we believe what we believe, and confidently proclaim to our culture that Jesus Christ truly is the promised Messiah. He is the Savior of the world!
But then another theme that we will see time and time again is the power of God on full display in the lives of His children. The story of the works and power of the Holy Spirit in Acts is truly amazing, inspirational, and encouraging. Listen to what Andreas Köstenberger says in his work on Acts… “If the first generation of the Christian church proves anything, it is this: the power of God is infinitely greater than any human obstacles in its way. A humble Galilean craftsman, who suffered an untimely death and accumulated no earthly possessions, wrote no books, and left behind nothing but a small band of disheartened followers, spawned a movement so powerful that it took the Roman Empire by storm.”
We are a part of that same movement today! And the power of our great God is still infinitely greater than any obstacles that get in our way!! Our God is greater than a virus, financial hardship, political unrest, or even persecution itself!! Let’s keep looking to Jesus, let’s be ready to give an answer, and let’s keep trusting Him every step of the way!!!
I love you and I love being your pastor