6-14-2016

 Good Morning All!!   

         Matthew 24:6; “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”

     Another weekend, another mass killing.  It seems like these events occur more and more frequently.  Somewhere in our country, someone or someones get a gun or guns and kill, maim or wound dozens and dozens of people.  There are dozens upon dozens of families whose lives will change dramatically.  And the talking begins.

    Less than one hundred hours since the tragedy in Orlando and the hand wringing, finger pointing, blame placing, know-it-all talking heads on television and radio have it all figured out.  They know exactly what the shooter was thinking, why he did it, how we should try and prevent it from happening again in the future.  Many of us wondering what it all means.  Jesus speaks to this in his talks with his disciples not too long before his crucifixion.  What he tells them is that the world will continue just as it has been.  There will be strife, wars, poverty, suffering, greed, violence and the like.  The world would continue just as it had ever since sin entered the world.  The devil would still rule in the hearts of the unbelieving, unredeemed men and women of the world.

     What has changed with the death and resurrection of Jesus is that we do not need to fear or worry about what lies ahead.  God has already settled that; we have salvation- eternal life with him in paradise.  Jesus paid the debt of our sin which released us from bring slaves of the devil.  We are freed to be part of God’s holy family.  We are, as the Apostle Paul writes, “new creations.”  We have overcome the struggles of the world because of all that Jesus has done and continues to do for us; forgiving our sins, comforting our hearts, strengthening our spirits and holding us close to him.

     So how do we as Christians go forward with life?  First, we continue to pray for Jesus to return and finally end sin in the world and the reign of the devil.  Secondly, we live our new life in the fashion that Jesus has called us to do; we are to love one another and provide to this world all the hope and comfort we have.  We pray for a change of heart for all those who hate and seek to cause pain.  We pray for a change of our heart so that we may be the loving members of the body of Christ that we are called to be.  It is not our place to judge those outside of the body of Christ but to witness to them the truth of Jesus’ saving grace. 

    The world will not change until Christ returns.  Until he does, we are to be the lights of his saving grace.  We are to be his ambassadors of truth and we are to be his servants in bringing hope, comfort and peace to this broken world.

Father, in times of sorrow, sadness and confusion lead us to be your voice of calming, your hands of comfort and your arms of support.  Lead us to bring to light the suffering that exists are because of sin and that the only true remedy is your amazing grace.  Be with those who have lost loved ones in such a tragic and senseless fashion.  Comfort all those in pain.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret