Church Family Update - January 13, 2021

Hi Everyone! I took a little break from sending out these updates so that I could catch my breath after a busy (but good!) Advent season. I hope that you and your family also had a worshipful season as you considered the miraculous incarnation of the Son of God. It’s hard to believe but the Lent season is just around the corner! More on that in a future update. 

First, Some Good News:

We had a wonderful council meeting last night. Our discussions and decision-making were marked by humility, joy and unity. Praise God! Thank you to everyone who was praying for our meeting. We definitely experienced very specific answers to those prayers. 

Flashback: Remember this? This was from the Ebenezer Update on March 24, 2020. It was true then and it’s still true now:

Now this is the Law of Ebenezer—even when things look black;

The strength of our church is Christ; Christ is the strength of our pack.

Amen!

A Devotional Thought:

“May the LORD bless you and guard you. May the LORD light up His face to you and grant grace to you. May the LORD lift up His face to you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Lately I’ve been reading a translation of the Old Testament done by a Jewish scholar. I like the way the verses are familiar but slightly different because it causes me to read them with fresh eyes. For example, the above verses are very familiar to us. I speak these words of blessing at the end of every worship service. But they're slightly different. This morning God grabbed my attention with the phrase: “May the LORD light up His face to you.”

Here’s what I pictured when I read that phrase. It’s summer and I’m tent-camping in the mountains in Alberta. Which means that even though the days are warm and sunny, the nights are cold. I’ve been shivering all night. I’m wearing all the clothes I’ve brought with me and my head is tucked into my sleeping bag to conserve heat. 

I’ve been watching the minutes slowly tick by, waiting for morning and wondering why I do this to myself. Why don’t I just stay in my warm home with my comfortable bed? 

I emerge from my tent while the sun is still hidden behind a mountain. It’s dark and I feel cold and damp. I turn on the stove to make coffee and make a little fire which helps to warm me but I’m still cold and grumpy. 

And then it happens. The sun peaks over the mountains. The shadows and the night chill begin to retreat as if they’re scared of the glory shining forth from behind the mountain. As the sun continues to climb higher into the morning sky the faint purple glow turns into the orange blaze of a fully risen sun. And I hear these words filling my soul: “May the LORD light up His face to you” and I am reminded once again why it is that I subject myself to camping in Alberta. 

The nights are cold and uncomfortable. Sometimes they feel like they’re never going to end. But they always do end. And the glory of the morning more than makes up for the darkness and discomfort of the night.

May the LORD light up His face to you today. 

Pastor Jason