This week we start a new series of messages relevant to events and the world we live in. As many return to church are many considering this differently. The church is returning we are not returning to the church.
Even as many return they do so seeking the normal. We have heard a lot about returning to normal, the new normal, and abnormal. What is God expecting? He has brought us to this time and place for a purpose and I do not feel it is to return to the normal way things were before the plague, before the hardships economically, before the isolation, before hatred broke out.
This week we begin a series of messages on the return. We will be focused the next several weeks on three important points.
Returning
Repentance
Revival
Just as it was once joked that schools taught the three R’s readin, riting, rithmetic. Christians must focus on the biblical basics of living and learning, and leaning on God.
“The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” (Psalm 14:2)
There is a prayer vigil occurring daily until November 3 at the new courthouse in downtown Springfield. The time is from 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Please pray about attending this vigil or beginning one in your town or home. An important part of this vigil is to be a public presence for all to see the church at prayer.
Day 7 Praying for our Nation October 11
DAY 7: Almost 70% of Americans oppose legislation that would guarantee religious freedom and freedom of conscience. Pray that God will continue to protect Christians’ right to openly practice our faith.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
Day 6 of Praying for Our Nation October 10
DAY 6: Pray for the men and women in law enforcement. Ask God to give them wisdom as they serve, guard them from harm, and bless their families.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:37–42)
Look around and see what ails the world, plagues, hatred of one person toward another, the blood of millions of babies, God haters, and on and on one could go. The truth of this passage came home today in my own heart. I have been striving for things to return to normal when God is clearly warning all peoples to seek His Kingdom. To not strive to return to the normal state of sin and disregard for God.
In the days of Noah people went on about life as normal, wanting to see their children and families happy and successful. Pursuing pleasures and delights of the world while oblivious to the warnings of Noah. This warning lasted 100 years until the one day, when one drop fell from the sky followed by another then another and soon the flood was sweeping away the normal that they had longed for.
Today as in the days of Noah people are striving for a return to the normal when we should be heeding the warning of Noah. Even among Christians there are hopes based in science and medicine to cure the ails of this dying world. Christians are engaged politically with their neighbors rather than biblically. A common statement made by many, “All this will go away after the election.” The truth from God is that it will not, the times will grow darker, godlessness and lawlessness will increase and these are the birth pains leading up to the return of Christ.
Yes in that return one will be taken and one left indicating that there will be many left to the destruction that is to come. Noah and his family stood as witness to a world longing for the world they knew and the normal they loved until the one day when the one drop multiplied into a flood of God’s judgment on a sinful world.
Just as God preserved Noah from the flood God preserves one who has believed faithfully in the salvation of Christ Jesus. Yes, Jesus is our Ark to escape the coming flood of God’s judgment, He is our deliverer because He has died for our sins and He will bring us safely home a place where the normal of joy, peace, and love will be forever in the presence of our Father. To enter the Ark we must believe with our hearts, confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and be born again through repentance and regeneration.
Just as God preserved Noah from the flood God preserves one who has believed faithfully in the salvation of Christ Jesus. Yes, Jesus is our Ark to escape the coming flood of God’s judgment, He is our deliverer because He has died for our sins and He will bring us safely home a place where the normal of joy, peace, and love will be forever in the presence of our Father. One day the last drop will be a tear that God wipes away as we enter the eternal normal the life we were intended to have from the beginning.
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