Hi FBC Friends!
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:5-6)
If you were here Sunday you may recognize an important word in the above verse. Do you see it? OK, I’ll tell you – “steadfast love”. Wait, that’s two words, right? Actually, that’s our English translation of a key Hebrew word – chesed. (You have to bring up some phlegm in your throat when you say it, or you’re probably not saying it correctly!) It is such a powerful word in the Old Testament. It describes God’s covenant-keeping type of love. The way He is so faithful, even when we are faithless. The way He loves so wonderfully, even those (us) who don’t deserve it. We learned in Lamentations that “the steadfast love (chesed) of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” (I hope you’re continuing to work on memorizing Lam. 3:22-25; as I demonstrated Sunday I still need to work on it too!)
Look again at these words from Psalm 13. If you read the whole Psalm today (it’s only 6 verses), you’ll notice that it starts with David asking 4 times, “How long…?” Have you ever found yourself getting impatient with the Lord? Do you have questions for Him? Do you ever ask, “How long?” or “Why?” or “What now?” That’s OK. Well, I should say, that’s OK, as long as you end up at some point where David did here. Trusting in His chesed. Rejoicing in your heart at His salvation. Singing to Him because He has dealt bountifully with you. He is faithful and loving – we can trust Him. He is a saving God – we can rejoice in Him. He is a gracious and generous God – we can sing to Him. Let’s do that every day… and then come together Sunday and do it as one body!
This Sunday I will be speaking on Lamentations 4. Please prayerfully read this poem from Jeremiah before Sunday to prepare your heart to hear from the Lord. We will see again how the uncovering of sins and the punishment for those sins results in terrifying consequences. But we’ll also again be reminded of where our hope comes from (just a hint: it doesn’t come from anything this world has to offer).
Thank you for continuing to pray for me, that I will be an effective preacher and leader and shepherd of our flock. And keep praying for our elders as we pray for you, and try to faithfully shepherd and lead FBC.
Also, if you could pray for our family about something, I’d be grateful: this Saturday evening we will be picking up a Japanese exchange student who will be staying with us for a month. I think she is 16, she will be Molly’s “roommate”, and her name is Rena. Pray that she’ll have a wonderful stay with us and that we will be good witnesses to her and point her to the love and salvation offered in Jesus Christ.
Remember our summer hours: Worship service at 9am; Sunday School at 10:45. Parents, please pick up your kids after Junior Church and Children’s Church and keep them with you until Sunday School begins at 10:45. That way our teachers can make a smooth transition into their classes and get prepared for class.
This Saturday YFC will be participating in the Brownsville Garage Sale, raising funds for the Campus Life ministry. Check out what they have and support them at 528 Kirk Ave. in Brownsville.
I’m so grateful to have the privilege of serving with you here at FBC! You all are a tremendous blessing to my life! Thank you.
Trusting… Rejoicing… Singing…
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael