August 15, 2025, 3:00 PM
Greetings in Christ! I pray the week has gone well for you.
It's been a very chaotic week for me.
School started this week here in Lexington. That's mostly a good thing (at least for the adults I know).
It was also a time of transition and marking the passage of time for me. I turned another year older this past Tuesday (August 12th).
Also on Tuesday, August 12th, we welcomed a new child into the FCC church family as we saw the birth of Maxson Wolphagen, the third child of Lee & Susan Wolphagen.
On the flip side, this week finds us holding funeral services for three of our folks from FCC. Here's the list: Thursday, August 14th -- Harry Broyles; Friday, August 15th -- Monnie Barnes (mother of Tim Barnes); Saturday, August 16th -- Daniel Bishop.
Since August began, I have been involved with NINE funeral services in 16 days! It's been a very unusual time!
During chaotic times, it's comforting for all of us to know that we serve an all-powerful, loving Lord.
Israel wanted a king to be like the other nations around them. They did not need a king, however. They had God.
Listen to what God said to Israel as recorded by the prophet Isaiah: "Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)
Let us praise the Lord! Jesus is our ultimate King and Redeemer!
It's during times like these that we can also feel an overwhelming sense of loss.
In the Old Testament book of Ruth, we meet Naomi and Ruth. They are two women (mother-in-law and daughter-in-law) who suffered personal loss (the death of son and husband).
However, the story unfolds that God blessed them both abundantly!
God took Naomi’s emptiness and bitterness and replaced it with abundance and blessing through Ruth and Boaz and their child Obed.
BTW -- Jesus, our greatest blessing, would come from the line of Obed!
Thank you, Jesus, for being our Guardian-Redeemer, and replacing our emptiness with abundance. If there is any part of our hearts that we are still hiding from you, please point it out to us and help us to surrender it to you. Amen.
May God bless and I hope and pray to see you this Sunday at FCC!
In Him,
Greg H.
