Hello Church Family,
I hope that you’re all doing well and staying healthy. It seems like every day the news on TV keeps getting worse. We have gone from being asked to stay at home until March 29, then April 30, and now June 10. Most stores are closed and you can’t go to a movie or a coffee shop. Other than drive through and take out, you can’t enjoy sitting at restaurants and having a meal with family and friends. A big one for me is not having any sporting events to watch or attend. The hardest one of all if that our churches have had to close for several weeks. All of this is being done to help curb the spread of a deadly virus, and prayerfully all of this will make a difference. Sometimes however, it is hard to have joy in this race of life.
Lately it seems like our race in life just keeps getting harder. There are more and more obstacles popping up and more and more hills to climb. It seems just when we can see the finish line the goal posts are moved further out. The Apostle Paul compared the Christian life to a race in Hebrews 12.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfected of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We clearly have a race to run. It has become more difficult, but our God has not changed. He is still at the finish line waiting on us, but better yet He is running beside us and giving us the needed encouragement and strength that we need. Whatever your race looks like, remember what verse two says, that we are supposed to fix our eyes on Jesus. What a great word of encouragement! Knowing that is we keep focused on Him that He will help us run our race well even in these difficult times.
As a church, we are also in quite a race right now. It is easy to get discouraged and wonder what is going on and when we will be back together. The great news is that Jesus knows and He has a great plan for Hyland Heights. We just have to fix our eyes on Him. While we are running this race lets continue to move forward and reach people. This week reach out to others and check on them. We can and should be making a difference every day. I for one am determined to run this race with my church family and know that God has a great plan for our future.
Have a good week!
Mike Summy
Children’s Pastor