August 1, 2025, 2:00 PM
Greetings in Christ on this first day of August.
I pray you've had a good week so far.
It's been a little bit of a rough week for me so far. I've seen some close friends and family pass away this week.
My good friend and mentor for the past 30 years, Chuck Perry, passed away from cancer on Monday night (07.28.25).
My Uncle David Herriford passed away from his battle with cancer early Tuesday morning (07.29.25).
Walking through the valley of the shadow of death is scary.
Here's something I have learned: It's in that valley that we will discover where we've placed our hope.
When we face death, it puts things in proper perspective. We focus only on what truly matters.
People put their hope in many things, but there is one really true hope, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in Christ alone that people find true hope and eternal riches.
Where or what do you have your hope placed in today? Is it placed in things of this earth or in Jesus?
I pray that Jesus would help us all to not misplace our hope. I pray that Jesus helps us all not lose heart.
Jesus Christ the only One worthy of our hope. Let's ALL remember this at ALL times and not just in times of trouble and stress.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Jesus has conquered death. Hallelujah!
He did this by dying on a cross and rising from the grave. Did you know that Jesus' victory on the cross for our sins was foretold all throughout the Old Testament?
As you may already know, I'm currently doing a series of messages on Sunday mornings at FCC called "The Son Shining Through."
In these sermons, we're looking at how to find Jesus in the pages of the Old Testament.
We will continue in this series this coming Sunday as we look at a bit of an unusual story involving Moses leading the people of Israel in the wilderness.
In Numbers 21, we read that the Israelites got discouraged, and, in their unbelief, they complained against God and Moses for bringing them into the wilderness and blamed him for their troubles. As punishment for their sin, God sent poisonous snakes into their camp and many were bitten and began to die.
Moses prayed for the people. God then sent what seemed like a crazy solution so people could survive.
Come hear more about this story and how it relates to us today! I hope and pray we'll see you this Sunday at FCC!
In Him,
Greg H.
