Pastor's Thoughts - January 2016

January 3, 2016

Bulletin Thought

A Thought from Pastor Bryson,

“…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV)

By the grace and mercy of God we have been blessed to see the beginning of a brand New Year. With a New Year, comes a “New Beginning.” We have the opportunity to start fresh, to not make some of the mistakes we made last year.

One thing we don’t want to do is “cling” to those experiences that were not beneficial to us. Prayerfully, whatever bad things happened to us last year, we have learned from them, grown through them, but let us not allow the memory of them to keep us from going forward. In 2016 God has given us a clean slate, a fresh start.

Let us reach forward to those things which are ahead. As people who profess faith in Jesus Christ – we have rich resources to draw from to help us do better as we move forward. God richly blesses us through His Word to help us do better as individuals and as a church. God richly blesses us through His Holy Spirit who lives in us. God richly blesses us through worship, prayer, and the fellowship of one another and other saints who are on this journey of faith.

As with any journey, there likely will be obstacles, roadblocks. But there will also be plenty of wonderful blessings from our generous and loving Lord. Let’s reach forward to those things which are ahead. Let’s press toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The upward call should cause us to look up, not down. In looking up we’re mindful of the source of our help.

God is faithful. God has brought us this far and by faith I’m believing He will see us through to the end. May it be our testimony that we’re not on this journey alone. Our Lord has equipped us with everything we need for victorious living. Our Lord is with us and we can move forward being confident that nothing will happen to us in 2016 that He isn’t able to see us through.

Enjoy your journey this year. If for whatever reason some of us don’t make it to the end of the year, let us not fret or be concerned, but rather rejoice that some of us ran our race as far as God would permit us to go. When the upward call is finally realized, imagine what joy, what peace, what love will be experienced in His presence.

Until that upward call is realized in our own lives, let us run well, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Have a blessed 2016.