Q1 Summary
I’d like to believe that we’ve come a long way since the start of this wonderful year, 2024. 2020 shook our lives by way of the Pandemic, 2021 was spent with us mostly in isolation, while 2022-2023 had us still making sure it was okay to come out… and 2024, well, is shaking in that the majority of the world (or, at least the world that the media covers) is, as they say, ‘back to normal’.
With that said, I personally find it funny that the theme for 2023 was ‘Movement’, considering that we were still in a mindset of transitioning from isolation and quarantine back to face-to-face interactions. If anything, 2024 should have been the ‘Year of Movement’… but, well, move we did, and in our moving, we’ve experienced so much in our own lives and as a church, that this year 2024 was determined to be a Year of Trust.
The writer of Psalm 20:7 says, ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God’; The way I see it, we tried to move with our chariots and horses last year, and now we’re reminded that our trust is not in our creation (chariots) or God’s creation (horses), but in God Himself.
Take note that we aren’t ‘cancelling’ the theme for 2023. Following the pattern of other churches, I believe that this year’s theme is applicable on top of last year’s theme. In other words, we’re to keep on moving, but now we need to remember to move, while trusting in the Lord.
As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Romans 10:11 NLT
Q2 Wrap-Up
That’s what we were talking about during the first quarter of this year. Now, as we’re ending this second quarter and transitioning into July, August and September, I’d like to acknowledge how we’ve moved our focus from trusting in the Lord, to relying on His faithfulness.
During the first few weeks of this quarter, we drew heavily from a book, a weekly devotional entitled ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness’ by Rob Morgan. And we were having good discussions, linking it to our observance of Holy Week.
We found peace in God’s faithfulness, and one verse that stood out for me throughout this phase was 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your cares and anxieties upon Him because He always cares for / thinks about you.”
But as we kept talking about God’s faithfulness, I couldn’t help but notice that the difficulty level of my own personal life was increased significantly… and at least on my part, it was through difficulty that I realized that the faithfulness that we talk about goes far beyond anything we could imagine.
What do I mean? Let’s keep going.
We continue to be thankful, because if it wasn’t for Pastor Poppo and Pastor Ronnie and their leadership and care for the GNCC Afternoon services, whether they be in Prime Hotel or in Trancoville, we wouldn’t be where we are today as a congregation… and we found it to be just proper to have the former share his words of wisdom, as we celebrated at least 3 years as the Good News Aces last April 28.
Pastor Poppo shared three elements that seemed to never have changed through all this time, and he arranged them in a way we could all remember: LPG – Love, Prayer, and Giving. We love one another, and we love one another by way of praying for one another, and giving for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.
Speaking of prayer, it’s also during the second quarter of each year that we celebrate Mothers’ Day – We gave thanks to God for those who prayed for us to come to accept Jesus Christ, and we acknowledged our mothers – because, most often than not, it was our mothers who were praying for us this entire time.
And we didn’t just celebrate Mothers, but a week or two ago we also celebrated our Fathers, didn’t we? And I do remember that the main point we wanted to establish was, no matter what experiences we had with our own earthly Dads, the fact of the matter is that we have our great, Heavenly Father whom we can run to.
How does all of this tie into God’s fatihfulness? Well, let’s go back to LPG, and let’s realize that it’s not an easy walk in the park for us to truly love one another, and to give to each other… I’m also assuming that our mothers weren’t necessarily finding it pleasant all the time to pray for us, ESPECIALLY when we misbehave…
…but praise God, because it’s precisely in our difficulties that we see that our God is absolutely faithful to us, loving us, praying and interceding for us as Christ so passionately did in John 17, before He gave everything up for us, after the events of Gethsemane.
How could we sound so seemingly arrogant to say that the Creator of the Universe is so faithful to us, to love us, pray for us, and to give to us?
Well, it’s not because of us, nor is it because of what we do. Romans 3:23 says that all of us have sinned. Isaiah, in Isaiah 64:6 also says that we’re all unclean, and all that we claim to do that is righteous is as ‘filthy rags’.
No, friends, it’s all through CHRIST and HIS finished work that we’ve been made righteous, in fact so righteous that we can count on God’s faithfulness to us, so we can love as He loves us, pray for others as He prayed for us, and give as He has given to us!
We enjoy God’s faithfulness because through Christ, we have been made righteous!
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:7-11
How are we so sure that we are righteous? Well, again, it’s not because of who we are, or what we think, but Christ took no chances, sending us the Holy Spirit to constantly remind us, that even if we do not see Him, we are ALWAYS in right-standing with God… again, so we’re able to love as we are loved, pray as we have been prayed for, and give as we have been given to.
And isn’t it wonderful, that even when our own Mothers were at a loss for words to pray, Romans 8:26-27 says that is was the SAME Holy Spirit that helped them in their weakness.
And earlier in the chapter, it’s the SAME Holy Spirit that serves as the Spirit of Adoption, by whom we call the Creator of the Universe our ‘Abba, Father’!
I say that God’s faithfulness to us is beyond our own senses, because of the Holy Spirit’s role in continually expressing it to us; If we say that Christ is God’s expression of His everlasting love to us, I’d led to share that the Holy Spirit is God’s expression of His great faithfulness to us.
What’s Next?
And so from movement, we’re led to trust, and in our trusting, we see God’s faithfulness.
This upcoming quarter, I feel like we’re going to go deeper into God’s faithfulness, down to the Foundation… and, in so doing, determine our own Fundamentals, as part of the body of Christ.
And it’s for this reason that I don’t think it’s an accident that we’ve been led to reading the book of Romans.
The following is from OliveTree’s presentation of the English Standard Version, which always has an Introduction for each book of the Bible:
Romans is the longest and most systematically reasoned of Paul’s letters. Paul announces its theme in 1:16-17: the gospel is God’s power for salvation, because it shows us that the righteousness of God is through faith for all who believe. Paul explains the need for justification through faith because of sin (1:16–4:25). He then spells out the results of justification by faith in terms of both present experience and future hope (5:1–8:39). In the next three chapters, he expresses his sorrow that many of his fellow Israelites have not embraced the gospel, and he wrestles with the theological implications of this (chs. 9–11). He concludes by describing how the gospel should affect one’s everyday life (chs. 12–16). Paul wrote his letter to Rome in about A.D. 57.
On the next post, I’ll be covering more on what led us to the book of Romans, and a little bit of reflection on what we gathered from the very first (controversial) chapter.
Until then, God bless us all. May we continue to live in awe and wonder, amazed by our Father, who saved us through Christ and His finished work.
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