April 29th, 2020

Good Morning Trinity,

 

Philippians 4: 10 – 13

 

 

Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago coined the catchphrase, “never let a crises go to waste.” I know what he was referring to, and that was finding a way to gain political favor through a crisis. Understand, I’m not writing today to give you my political opinions or to hear about your political opinions. But there is something to be said about his comment. Something that we should consider in our own spiritual lives.

 

I know that there are many of us who are feeling a little stir-crazy these days. We’re not able to get out and do things like we used to be able to do. We can’t go to church, shake hands, get hugs like we used to. Sunday school classes can’t meet right now and I know how close these classes were, emotionally and spiritually. Bible studies, it’s the same thing, we meet on zoom but it’s still not the same as being together in the same room.

 

A few weeks ago in my devotion I wrote about how cranky people were in the grocery store. Everyone seemed to be in such a rush to get in and out without getting infected. After that experience I was reluctant to shop again and even tried a different store. Thankfully, things seemed to settle down, that is until I was caught going down the up isle and had to endure the glare of a young lady as she waited for me to pass her at the end of the isle. That glare over the top of her mask —- if looks could kill. 

I can’t help but think that we’re supposed to learn more from this than just what it’s like to be inconvenienced. But for many of us the inconvenience is all we see. When are things going back to normal? When can we go out and eat in a restaurant again? Do we sound like whining children who have been grounded for a week because we misbehaved? If you were ever grounded, did you learn something from it? If you ever grounded one of your children, didn’t you want them to learn something from it?

Don’t let this crisis go to waste my friends. The Apostle Paul said in Verse 4: 12 “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”  Did you catch those 5 special words that Paul  placed in the middle of that verse? “I have learned the secret.” In all the circumstances Paul ever found himself in, he had learned to get through it.

Was Paul just a resilient kind of guy who just had the ability to get by in any circumstance? I don’t believe that was the gift God gave to Paul when He told him to go preach the gospel. I believe that Paul had learned to lean on the Lord in all circumstances. As it says in Verse 4: 13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Face it folks, we are all going to go through this time together. You can go through it kicking and screaming and telling everyone how unfair it is, or you can learn something that the Lord will teach you through it. Here’s another verse that just came to mind. Psalm 46: 10 ““Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

God Bless,

Pastor Dave

Announcements:

Tuesday – 6pm a new online bible study. Watch lesson 6 of 1 Peter with Kyle Idleman on RightNow Media and then join us for our bible study on Tuesday starting at 6PM. Go to Trinity’s Facebook page and click on the link for Zoom bible study

Wednesday – 6:30pm Also this week, Pastor Justin will be having Family Night on Zoom. Great time for the whole family.

Sunday – 9:00am  Communion Sunday, bring your communion elements with you and come and join us for our Drive-In Church. Park near the Fellowship hall in the new parking spaces. There will be a platform set up with speakers and we’ll be ready to go. We also have an FM transmitter 88.7 for those who want to roll up their windows and run the air conditioning. You have to be there to pick up the radio station. Please stay in your vehicles. No cheating.

Sunday – 10:30am Communion Sunday, have your communion elements ready and we will have the our online service on Facebook. You can watch this on demand any time after 10:30am which means you can take in the Drive-In service and then go home to watch the expanded service