Blessings to you, loved ones.  I am sitting here working out how long it has been since we have been together.  If I’m counting right, this will be week five.  I pray that everyone is holding up alright.  I’m glad that we are hearing that things are going to start returning to normal.  I’m so thankful for the technology that has allowed us to maintain some level of contact, but there is just no substitute for in-person community.  Even so, we can take the new tools we have used of necessity and employ them going forward when that face-to-face contact just isn’t possible.  I don’t know yet when we will meet again in our building, but it shouldn’t be too much longer.  This is one time when our small numbers will work to our benefit.

Last week, we talked about the hope we have because Jesus rose from the dead.  It is every bit as essential to the gospel message as His death on that cross.  In the resurrection we have hope of salvation.  We can know that He is working everything together for our good.  We anticipate the day when these broken-down bodies get replaced by new ones.  We can look forward to an eternity spent with our loving creator.

But what happens while we’re here?  I think the Lord has a message for us today from Acts 1:6-11.  Here, Luke gives us an account of what happened just as Jesus was taken up into Heaven.  Imagine being one of the disciples on that day.  You’ve already seen so many amazing Miracles that you can’t remember them all, and most amazing of all is the man you know was tortured and crucified just over 40 days ago is standing in front of you.  There’s no doubt anymore of who He is.  You think you understand it all now, and wonder if now is the time for Him to finish what He started and restore your nation, something you’ve hoped for all your life.

But not so fast!  When asked, Jesus says in effect, “none of your business.”  “There’s more for you to do, and I’m going to give you the power through the Holy Spirit to do it.”  Then, up He goes!  We’re told that the disciples stood there looking into the sky.  no doubt they were awestruck at what they had just seen, but I think they might have been wondering, “What now?”  Their leader has been taken from them.  The Holy Spirit is coming, but they don’t yet understand what that means.  So, there they stand, staring up at the point where they last saw him disappear into a cloud.  How long that lasted we don’t know, but it would seen not long before the angels made an appearance.  They had just one question, “why do you stand looking into the sky?”  Jesus already promised He would be back.  Meanwhile, the disciples had a mission to complete.

When things get tough, we have a tendency to look back longingly at the way things used to be.  When something is lost that we think we can’t live without, we can focus on that thing to the exclusion of all others, missing out on the life still going on around us.  Now I get that this is not a very good analogy when it comes to Jesus.  After all, we really can’t live without him, and we don’t have to.  We have the Holy Spirit.  But God was doing something bigger than they could ever have imagined, and Jesus’s  temporary departure was part of the plan.  I’m sure I’d be right there with them.  After all, they were in the presence of the risen Lord!  They had given up everything to follow Him.  He had been their teacher and their friend.  This had to be a difficult transition for them.  So God sent the angels to remind them that He would be back and to prod them on to the next phase of His grand plan.  They obeyed, they prayed, the Holy Spirit came, and the world was changed forever!

All of us right now can probably look back on times that seemed better.  We had our health.  WE had more money.  Our loved ones were still with us.  Our relationship with god seemed stronger.  We could buy toilet paper.  🙂  But let’s not stand here staring off at what once was.  Let us instead embrace what is.  Let us continue to seek the Lord, learn to hear His voice, and do what He has told us.  I believe that great revival is possible, if we His people will only humble ourselves and pray, turn from our sins, and seek His face.

I hope you can join us today for our virtual service.  We’ll be live on Facebook and we will have the conference line open for those who would like to interact more easily during prayer and fellowship times.  If you don’t have the number, contact us and we will share it with you.  Here are some tips for making the call go more smoothly.  At the beginning and end of the call, all lines will be open, but it is still best to keep your line muted unless you want to talk.  this reduces background noise and interference for others on the line.  *6 mutes or unmutes your line, or just use the function on your phone or headset.  If you want to watch on Facebook while on the call, turn your device volume down to prevent the delayed echo from feeding back to the call.  Speakerphones can also cause the problem with echo, so keep them muted unless you are talking.

Talk to you soon.  Love y’all!

Larry