Newsletter from November 10, 2009
From the Senior Pastor:
I’m not sure what day of the week that you receive this newsletter. For Linda and myself, it’s usually Thursday. But there have been occasions when it did not arrive until the first of the next week.
Normally, the newsletter is printed Wednesday morning and mailed that afternoon.
This means that this week’s newsletter should have been printed and mailed on the eleventh day of November, Veteran’s Day (but of course the post office is closed on Veteran’s Day). So this newsletter is being printed and mailed a day early.
At that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the first World War officially ended. And therefore it has been decreed that November eleventh will be the day when we honor those who served, fought and died to protect and preserve our freedoms.
Both my Dad and Father-in-law served in the Pacific during the second World War. My Uncle Render died as a sailor during WWII. My mother’s Uncle Buddy is buried in France, where he died during the first World War.
Having never served, I was humbled by the number of individuals who stood during Morning Worship so that the congregation could express their thanks for those who faithfully fulfilled their duties as soldiers, sailors and airmen.
They are the ones who wield the sword that God has given to those in authority, that it might serve as an agent of wrath against wrongdoers. And they are the ones God has used you to bless us as a nation with the privilege of living “peaceful and quiet.” (1 Tim 2.2).
Of course, Paul says that God blesses us with peaceful and quiet lives so we might be free to live godly and holy lives.
In fact, Paul teaches in verse 3 of 1 Timothy chapter 2 that praying for those in authority, while striving to live godly and holy lives, is one means God uses to bring others to a knowledge of the truth.
In this same chapter, those he has called to prayer, he instructs to free themselves of anger and disputation, and to adorn their lives with good deeds.
And in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3, Paul challenges his son in the faith to “endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” I’m fairly confident at this point in my life I’m never going to serve the armed forces of my country. But by God’s grace, I pray I will always be mindful of my calling to serve as a warrior for the cross of Jesus Christ.
As followers of our King, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world; against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And therefore, we are urged in Ephesians six, to put on daily the full armor of God so that we can stand our ground on the day of evil. A belt of truth. A breastplate of righteousness. Feet fitted and ready to carry into all the world the good news of the Gospel. A shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And again, Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18, “Pray[ing] in the Spirit on all occasions with prayers and requests . . . for all the saints.”
I’m grateful for those who have served in our armed forces. And I am grateful for those with whom I serve as soldiers of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Caines