The Bible is filled with calls to remember. Israel celebrated many annual assemblies specifically to remember. Good times and Bad seasons come and they drift away. Times definitely change, but God does not. God’s Faithfulness never wanes. In fact, it is brand new every single day!
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT) The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
The Story of the Church is ugly.
Corruption, wars, and heartbreak litter the broken story of Jesus’ bride upon this earth.
Selling forgiveness prompted Luther’s 95 theses. A “battle of the popes” moved Wycliffe to get the Bible translated into a common language. Church practices that barred ordinary people and gave special privileges to clergy sent Huss to the stake. It was the abhorrent state of society that raised the voices of the Wesleys, Edwards, and Whitfield.
We may not remember these names, but they laid down their futures, fortunes, and lives to make sure we had a chance to live an Ordinary Faith. We need to remember…
The Story of the Church is Beautiful.
Always in the story of her brokenness, the Church has awakened. Time and again she has risen from her slumber to reclaim her beauty.
The stories of Wycliffe, Huss, Savonarola, Luther and many others struck a flame to light our way. The awakenings that shook England and the Americas still tremble today!
The Key to our Future was forged in our past! We must remember…
What God can do with Ashes!
Isaiah 61:3 (NLT) To all who mourn… he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.
Scriptures are filled with accounts of redemption from ruin. So often the nation of Israel would find itself surrounded by the ashes of former glory. They would then discover that their rejection of God was the cause. But, it was not only nations who forgot God. Nations are made up of people. It was people who abandoned God.
Without God, we soon find that ruin is the only true work of human hands. The voices of despair are all too common at present. Much has been lost. The best parts of humanity are fading quickly. All because a man without God is no person at all. When we lose our God we lose our humanity as well. (2 Peter 2:9-22)
But God is Faithful! It was God who found Abraham. It was a loving Father God who pursued the shepherd boy named David. It was God who searched the world to find, redeem, and glorify the tiny nation of Israel. It was God the Son, Jesus, who found Peter, James, and John. It was Jesus who confronted Paul on a Damascus road.
God never stops. Do not lose heart. We may falter, but God NEVER stops! Remember…
LOVE! – Micheal M