Hi Everyone,

I hope and pray you had a very happy Easter weekend. The tomb is empty and He is risen!

This morning I sat down and reflected on this past month, and again I came to the conclusion that we are living in troubling times. Not only are we experiencing the global pandemic that is Covid-19, but there have been reports of earthquakes. Now we await a storm with winds well over 60kmh. Still, God is Lord of all. He is King; higher than any other. Nothing happens outside of His knowledge. He is omniscient, sovereign and worthy of our praise!

Psalm 29 says:
1 Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. 2 Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever. 11 The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Mathew Henry explains that David calls us (mankind) to pay homage to the Lord. He calls those with power to bow to the Lord. That is rulers, princes and governments. For as high as they are, God is infinitely above them. Their power has been given to them by God and is to be used for God. However, because the psalmist writes (3x) “give unto the Lord”, it becomes obvious this is not how leaders, rulers, governments typically respond to the Lord. They are not easily persuaded to do so. And yet what are they to give unto the Lord? Recognition. They are to recognize His glory and dominion over us. Man is to give himself to the Lord and then give his service. So give unto the Lord glory and strength; acknowledge His glory and His strength.

“Give praise to him as a God of infinite majesty and irresistible power. Give Him your crowns; let them be laid at his feet; give him your sceptres, your swords, your keys, put all into his hand, that you, in the use of them, may be to him for a name and a praise” (Mathew Henry). Give to the Lord the glory due to his name.

Clearly this is a psalm urging us to praise God in His holiness and majesty. It is a psalm that will leave you in awe of God if only you will take the time to study it. May I suggest you make it one of your devotions this week? What strikes me though, is how it begins and ends. It begins with the call for rulers, governments, and leaders to bow before the Lord. It ends with The Lord giving strength to His people; blessing his people with peace.

As I have said already, we are living in troubling times and the more I watch the news the more I come to see how our leaders lack the peace that God gives. Could it be that God is calling them back to Himself; to acknowledge who he is? Is it a time when they are being urged to see how their power has not always been used for His glory? Is God calling them to become the examples we need by humbling themselves before the One who is over the waters; who is all powerful and full of majesty? The One whose voice breaks the cedars and makes them skip like a calf? Are they being called to bow before the one who calls the deer to give birth; the One who is KING forever? YES!

And if they do this; if they humble themselves before the Lord will He not strengthen them for His service; will He not give strength to His people and fortify them against every evil work and furnish them for every good work? Out of weakness will they not be made strong? Will He not encourage them in His service? Yes!! And He will bless His people with peace.

Folks we need to pray for our leaders. We need to pray the arrogance of man will fall away; the elevation of self will crumble, and the Lord will be exalted; that man will see the Lord is King. We need to pray our leaders will see just how broken our land is. We need to pray the people will turn to the Lord. For He is the only one who can bring peace in such a time as this. Prayer!! It’s our best weapon right now and we should be devoted to it. I urge you to pray!
Now, this leads me to a brief update:

This upcoming Sunday evening (April 19th) we will be hosting our first online prayer meeting through Zoom. I will be updating the prayer/praise list this week and if you have any new praise items or prayer requests please let me (Pastor Mike) know. Also, if you are interested in being a part of our online prayer meeting, please contact me by phone or e-mail so I can send out the link and password so you may access that meeting.

Secondly, this past Wednesday, we were blessed to be part of our introductory online study in the book of James. Thank you to those who took part. We look forward to connecting with you again this week. It was good to see your faces!! I know this isolation has been difficult and while online technology is not the same as live interaction, we are thankful for it. Again, if you have any questions about the study in the book of James you can contact Jason and Meghan Taylor.

Lastly, it is still our intent to have doors open on both Monday and Friday between 3-6pm for those that wish to drop off tithes and offerings.

If you have any needs throughout the week you can reach me on my cell phone.
Know that we are praying for you and your family and we cannot wait until we are able to gather together once again.

Many Blessings
Pastor Mike