7-4-2026

Good Morning All,

     Micah 6:8; “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

       If you have ever worked for a large corporation or belonged to a board of a non-profit organization, you are probably familiar with a mission statement. A mission statement is to be the guiding principle when making plans for the organization. As a country, I always believed that the Preamble to the Constitution was an excellent mission statement.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

    Those men who met in Philadelphia in 1787, laid out their plan and vision for a different type of governance with three branches of government with co-equal checks and balances that were designed to accomplish these goals. It is intended to work for the common good of the people who live here. It is to share in providing those things which we all need, common defense, justice for all, and a general welfare where each has the opportunity to prosper from his labors. Are we perfect, not by a long shot, but we should always strive to live up to this high ideal for a nation and a people.

    In many ways, we as Christians have a mission statement as well. Some may choose a different verse and that is fine but I would think that it would be close to this one. As a Christian, as we look around at the world we live in, how are we to live and act in this world. First, we are to do justice. Justice in the Bible is much more than punishing wrongdoing. It is about making sure that all people have a chance to try. All people are to have as fair an opportunity as anyone else.

    We are to love kindness. Some translations use the word mercy here. This means that all our actions, our words, and our plans show mercy to others. We should have mercy when one of our neighbors needs help to keep up. We should have mercy in the enforcement of our laws. We should show mercy to those most in need of God’s care.

    The third statement listed is to walk humbly before God. In the Bible, to be humble means to recognize that all we have is from God and that we are totally reliant on His merciful kindness. None of us are “self-made” all of us have received blessings from God which He gives us to be prepared and willing to aid our neighbor in need. It is interesting how these two documents intersect and interact.

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for the blessings you give us. Today, we give thanks for our country. Guide us by Your Spirit so we may live out these statements and verses. Guide us to humbly serve you by helping our neighbor, seeking justice with mercy, and loving all people as Your children. In the precious Name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret