Author: schoeneckmoravian

2021 IS HERE! 

Most if not all of us are happy that 2020 is over. 

I remember seeing a post on instagram with a dad and his baby girl who is a toddler. At the beginning of the video the dad was walking and pushing a shopping cart while his baby girl, who by all accounts just started walking, was holding onto the bottom of the cart smilingly assisting her dad to push the cart, seemingly because she probably thought she was the one doing all the work. Moments later in the video post, the baby girl was on her knees, still holding on to the cart while her dad pushed it along. I could not help but literally laugh out loud. Perhaps she ran out of steam after all, she just started walking. I thought that was it for the video but as I watched on my laughter became a belly roll because this little baby was now flat on her stomach, still holding on to the cart as her dad pushed it along. Can you imaging the scene? 

First she was walking while pushing the cart, next she was crawling while pushing the card, and finally she was lying down while “pushing the cart. Then the caption came up — “Me at the beginning of 2020, me at the middle of 2020, me at the end of 2020.” 

Most of us were excited at the possibilities of entering into a new decade. But, this decade caught us all off guard, and 2020 was turbulent all the way to the end. Many of us starting off walking, then kneeling as we tried to press on through it, and many of us ended it just flat out on our bellies. Between the tandem, the political unrest, and the racial unrest to say 2020 was crazy would be the understatement of the decade. Nevertheless, here we are — it’s 2021. 

Many of us are hoping that the baggage of 2020 will be left in 2020. The reality is, however, 2021 is not a magic number or year. Any unresolved baggage from last year and previous years will follow us in 2021. BUT, the GOOD NEWS IS, JESUS CHRIST! Jesus — the epitome of all that is good, the source of hope and amazing possibilities — is already here in 2021. Jesus Christ has not changed, and His resolve to journey into our chaos and sort and remedy our baggage for us and with us has not changed either. His love knows no bounds. 

Another good thing is that we know what baggages we are bring with us and therefore we know what to commit to our Lord Jesus Christ in prayer. Christ doesn’t want us to be oblivious to our circumstances, but neither does He want us to allow our circumstances to cause us to fear and lose hope. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) And in John 16:33, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”  We will remain upright on our feet through 2021 come what may, for we stand on Jesus Christ the Solid Rock upon which we shall not be moved. 

Welcome to 2021. To Christ be the Glory, AMEN! 

God Will Supply Our Need

One of the daily devotionals we like to read to get closer to God is “Our Daily Bread.” Recently this devotional published a reading that gave us great inspiration and strength. It shared the story of a woman and her family that had just moved. After the move, life only seemed to get harder and harder with every turn. The woman wrote:

“Physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted, I curled up in my recliner. Our family had followed God’s leading and had moved from California to Wisconsin. After we arrived, our car broke down and left us without a vehicle for two months. Meanwhile, my husband’s limited mobility after an unexpected back surgery and my chronic pain complicated our unpacking. We uncovered costly problems with our new-to-us, old home. Our senior dog suffered with health issues. And though our new pup brought great joy, raising a furry ball of energy was far more work than anticipated. My attitude soured. How was I supposed to have unshakable faith while traveling on a bumpy road of hardships?”

Maybe you have felt this way lately, finding yourself up against obstacles and hardship in your life. In the face of all these feelings and tears, the woman from the story above turned to the Lord in prayer. At times, doing this may seem like a hopeless exercise when all else seems to be failing. Can anything change? Can it possibly get better? But God has a way of reaching us when we look to him for strength. The woman shared that as she prayed, she was reminded of the psalmist David whose praise did not depend on his circumstances. God was speaking to her. He was reminding her that just as He was faithful to David, He was and would be faithful to her; just as David found strength in Him, so could she as well. 

David’s life is a textbook example of someone who had a pretty bad day, and then much worse. Early on in his life David found his life in danger. King Saul pursued David and tried to take David’s life several times (1 Samuel 19-26). Later, David’s own men blamed him for the loss of their family members, and they talked about stoning him (1 Samuel 30:4). Then, David’s son Absalom stole the throne from his father David, and David had to flee to protect his own life (2 Samuel 15:14). The man truly knew what he was talking about when he said, “a mighty army surrounds me” (Psalm 27:3). 

But in the face of fear and certain danger, David turned to God. The Lord was his rock when all else around him was changing and falling apart. He wrote, “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge” (Psalm 16:1). David heard the rumors against his life all around him, yet he said, “But I trust in you, Lord. I say, ‘You are my God.’” (Psalm 31:14). 

One of the most striking things David said about the Lord was this:  “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup” (Psalm 16:5). For an Israelite like David, one’s portion was another way of referring to one’s inheritance. God gave each of the tribes of Israel a “portion” of land to inherit when they entered the promised land (see Joshua 13-21). While some might have said their greatest treasure and security was their land and their wealth, David instead said, “Lord, you alone are my portion.” It was true in the good times and especially true in the bad. Everything would be taken from David — his land, his reputation, his family. But there was something that could never be taken from him, and that was his God. God still remained with David when all else was failing. When all else was against him, even his closest companions, the Bible gives us an everlasting testimony from David when it tells us, “But David found strength in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).

In the face of adversity and hardship in life, it can feel like there’s nothing left and no hope, but God offers to be our portion, to be our everything. Let us learn from the example of David who found all that he needed in the Lord. 

God bless you all, 

Pastors Garritt and Sanette