Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is Friday and Sunday is coming. Those who live in the area join us this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Channel 4 for our weekly TV outreach. We will gather in the morning tomorrow at The First UMC to prepare the meal to serve to the needy at 12 noon. We will gather for Saturday Evening worship tomorrow at 6 PM at the First UMC for fellowship and worship. Our friend Dave Hettinger will be speaking and our daughter Laureen will be leading in worship music and praise. We will gather for worship Sunday at 8:30 and 11:00 at Union Center and at 9:30 at Wesley. Our friend Mike Wingard will be preaching at Wesley tomorrow morning. Praise the Lord that we can gather to worship the Lord week after week and declare His faithfulness and His victory. We read in Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
In light of the amazing rescue story in Chile, I was reminded of another story of great rescue. In the country of Armenia, in 1988, Samuel and Danielle sent their young son, Armand, off to school. Samuel squatted before his son and looked him in the eye, and said, “Have a good day at school, and remember, no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.” They hugged and the boy ran off to school.
Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. In the midst of the pandemonium, Samuel and Danielle tried to discover what happened to their son but they couldn’t get any information. The radio announced that there were thousands of casualties. Samuel then grabbed his coat and headed for the schoolyard. When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears to his eyes. Armand’s school was a pile of debris. Other parents were standing around crying.
Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a rock and put it to the side, and then grabbed another one.
One of the parents looking on asked, “What are you doing?” “Digging for my son,” Samuel answered. The man then said, “You’re just going to make things worse! The building is unstable,” and tried to pull Samuel away from his work.
Samuel set his jaw and kept working. As time wore on, one by one, the other parents left. Then a firefighter tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel looked at him and said, “Won’t you help me?” The firefighter left and Samuel kept digging.
All through the night and into the next day, Samuel continued digging. Parents placed flowers and pictures of their children on the ruins. But, Samuel just kept working. He picked up a beam and pushed it out of the way when he heard a faint cry. “Help! Help!” Samuel listened but didn’t hear anything again. Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?”
Samuel began to dig furiously. Finally he could see his son. “Come on out, son!” he said with relief. “No,” Armand said. “Let the other kids come out first because I know you’ll get me.” Child after child emerged until, finally, little Armand appeared. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, “I told the other kids not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!” Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful.
How much more faithful is our heavenly Father! Whether we are trapped by fallen debris or ensnared by life’s hardships and struggles, we are never cut off from God’s faithfulness. He is true to His character. He is reliable and trustworthy.
Here’s a simple definition: “God’s faithfulness means that everything He says and does is certain.” He is 100% reliable, 100% of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint. He says what He means and means what He says and therefore does everything He says He will do.
It is written in Lamentation 3:21 ff, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is because of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."
In His Faithfulness,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60o3UP4Kjwg
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