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Christ Our Victory and Inner Desire-19
Hope For Today – Encouragement From Our Pastors
September 11, 2020
Psalm 100:1-5—As I opened in prayer this morning, I saw an image of lush green small leaves covering an area that was also covered with water droplets. This reminded me of the refreshment that comes from being in the presence of our Father. This Psalm is a call to worship that is given to all the world. A global proclamation. All the world, “Sing to the Lord!” I believe that the Lord gave the vision of a lush place for that is where we find ourselves when we choose to praise him. By this I do not mean that life is without its trials and sin. We need to pause, remember, repent, return and re-engage repeatedly on this relational journey with our Father. This is about presence and being in covenant with our covenant making Father. So therefore, I worship with joy. I belong to him for he has made me. Therefore, I acknowledge that he is the Lord God. I inform and encourage other people that we are the people of his flock. Let us do life together under the banner of his lordship. Let us worship the Lord together with thanksgiving. Let us gather corporately to thank and to praise him. The Lord our Father will never abandon us! His covenantal love for us is eternal. He will never be unfaithful to the covenant for his faithfulness will last forever and ever. My relationship with our Father who has already made a covenant with me is absolutely humbling. He has stooped down to my mess and chaos. He has embraced me in my pain and lifted me from the ashes so that I could join the hosts of others who are in corporate worship of praise and thanks before the throne of our Father. Yes, I am in a place of refreshment and lushness where I am watered by his eternal presence! Join me and sing praises! Sing to the Lord all the world!!
Pastor Joe
July 3, 2020
Is there still hope for today? Pastor Joe Garber
“I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I
remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his
faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my
inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to
those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”
The prophet Jeremiah wrote these words of lament after his homeland and the people living there
suffered great loss of life and property. Really, life seemed like it was over. The city of
Jerusalem was destroyed by fire including their temple of worship. Over 4000 people were taken
as prisoners of war and made to walk several hundred miles to the country who had taken them
captive. Jeremiah the prophet says, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: What follows is also very good for us to remember
today.
We have not all lost our houses, fields and jobs, although some have suffered great losses in this
time. We have not walked tirelessly as prisoners of war into the land of our captors, but we
have been carried away into what seems to be a new land…the land of covid. This land is filled
with anger, loss and a growing mistrust of those in authority. Today I am encouraging us to say
with the prophet Jeremiah, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I
still dare to hope when I remember this: Let us consider together what we need to remember
while in this new land that we are now all living.
Today we choose to focus our thoughts on what Jeremiah chose to focus on. As you read each
one pause for a moment and consider what it means to focus on what you just read. I will insert
the word pause to encourage you to pause. What you will read is about the nature of God. If you
lack understanding of what you read then ask God to give you understanding. He really has not
forgotten you. Therefore, let us say together, “We dare to hope again when we remember this:
- First: The faithful love of the Lord never ends. Pause
- Second: The mercies of the Lord never cease. Pause
- Third: Great is the Lord’s faithfulness. Pause
- Fourth: The Lord’s mercies are fresh and new each morning when I awake. Pause
- Fifth: The Lord is my inheritance. Pause
- Sixth: The Lord is good when I depend on him. Pause
- Seventh; The Lord is good when I search for him. Pause
- Eighth: The Lord is my salvation. Pause
Let us return to the phrase Jeremiah began with, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve
over my loss.” Pause.
Below is Psalm 29 which is a writing where David reflects on life as he experienced it: the
power, the majesty, a shaking, a twisting, a striking and a thundering of the voice of the Lord that
drew David’s heart even closer to the heart of God in absolute worship. Can this happen for me
in this “new land” where I find myself and my family living? Will I permit myself to be drawn deeper into the grip of his love for me? Will I ascribe to God the glory due his majestic name
even while my mind is filled with confusion and at times anger and frustration?
As we close today worship the Lord together with David. Dare to hope again in the Lord God.
Psalm 29 (NIV)
A psalm of David.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Prayer:
Our Father, I repent for the times where I have failed to represent you well in this “new land”. I
repent of anger and judgments that I have made. I repent for those times where I failed to show
love, honor and respect. I ask you to cleanse my heart with the blood of Jesus and forgive me of
all my sins. Thank you, Father. Today, I choose to hope again in you my Lord and my King. In
the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen