Family and Warfare
The familial terms like “Father,” “brother” and “sister” which are used in the Bible to describe the Christian experience remind us of the importance of love, devotion and connectedness that ought characterize our congregation. But it is important that we are not led to believe that all our Christian expectations should settle on feelings of cozy, docile family room gatherings. Remember that the Scriptures also utilize balancing analogies for the Christian life which employ terms like “Captain,” “fellow soldiers,” “Master,” “servants” and “athletes.” These images transport our minds and expectations from the family room to the battlefield, the harvest fields and fields of strenuous exertion. Add to that our understanding of the prophetic schedule which promises a future age of rest and reward preceded by the current age of kingdom advancement and struggle with the flesh and the devil. While we all long for the days of relaxing together at the ultimate family reunion, for now we are brothers and sisters fighting to do what is right as we strategically assault the gates of hell with expansion of our Lord’s Church.
Pastor Mike
FEBRUARY OFFER
“I hope all is well!” “I hope to see you soon.” “I hope I don’t have any cavities when I visit the dentist.” “Here’s hoping!”
Like many words in our vernacular, the word hope is often tossed around casually and even mechanically. It comes to our lips spontaneously without a thought to its meaning or significance. Most of the time we use the word hope, we are really expressing a wish. It amounts to saying something along the lines of “it sure would be nice if such and such would happen.” But there is so much more to the biblical word “hope”.
In the Bible, hope refers to a confident expectation of a future event. This is not just wishful thinking; instead, hope is closely related to trust. It is the joyful anticipation of something we are certain is going to come about.
For your donation this month at Focal Point, we would like to send you a book titled Hope Again by Chuck Swindoll. This book explores the practical ways our hope in Christ moves us beyond our daily struggles. You will learn from a biblical standpoint how to find hope beyond failure, temptation, guilt, unfairness, immaturity, bitterness and more. Chuck calls this “A book for all who sincerely search for ways to hope again when your life hurts and your dreams fade.”
Request Hope Again with your donation this month.
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