First Church Family:
I pray you are well and are staying warm in the winter cold. My devotions this morning led me to Psalm 27. The psalm is a psalm written by David, just like Psalm 23, around which we are worshipping.
David begins Psalm 27 in similar fashion to his message to God in Psalm 23:
The LORD is my light and my salvation—
so why should I be afraid?
The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble? (vs. 1)
There is a lot of fear and trembling in our world, even among those of us who have salvation and security in God. Please join me in reading these first verses of Psalm 27 every morning this week, remembering that God is with us.
Our staff and volunteers prepared and delivered 50 lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cupcake meals to Samaritan’s Purse personnel at our Hampton Inn last night. Our plan was to serve them the next two Tuesdays as well, but because of improving hospital capacity levels, Samaritan’s Purse is able to move on earlier than predicted.
What a blessing that is, though we would have loved serving those “visiting angels” more than once! We already have requests for community service to replace what we would have done for them, and I will inform you about it when we know the specifics.
This Sunday in worship, our focus will be: “He restoreth my soul…” (Psalm 23:3a) It is a communion Sunday, meaning that I will consecrate the elements that are in the Sanctuary and also those you will have prepared at home. We will partake of the elements together at one moment in the service.
And also, we will offer drive through communion following the service, outside. I hope to see you there.
Though it has been a long time since we’ve all been together for worship, God’s spirit is strong in our midst. Please pray for me, as I pray for you.
Blessings on you,
Pastor Dave