From the Desk of the Pastor
In person worship Services continue to be temporarily cancelled as we abide by the policies of the State and local authorities. The county order has been extended and we will need to monitor for updates. Please continue to listen to the health officials that are providing information.
We will begin to look at the sanctuary and begin to consider measure for distancing once the church can be opened for in person services again. There is a webinar this week on church reopening in which I will participate in. Please note that on the Holy Light MBC Facebook account there is a recording of the services and we plan to record services and have facebook LIVE SERVICES at approximately 9:00am each Sunday in May. Video Messages are available on the church website. The message from Shiloh in March 2020 for Pastor Armstrong’s anniversary is also on the website. > Visit Shiloh Baptist Church
Anyone who has not received an online stimulus deposit from the IRS can go to the following sitewww.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-paymentand check for eligibility. On the site you can give bank information to get a direct deposit.
Finally what can we do as a body of Christ during this time that we are experiencing this physical distancing from each other.
Continue Reaching Out to One Another – Calls, Emails, texting messages
Continue praying for one another
Certainly an Opportune Time to Read Scripture and Christian literature
Feel free to reach out to me: (323) 493-2066 or at holylightmbc@gmail.com
MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU!! BE SAFE! BE WELL!
Watch This Week's Sermon
(Recorded on 05/17/2020)
Isaiah 40:28-31 Waiting on God’s Timing
This passage, and especially verse 31, has been a favorite of the Lord’s people for thousands of years. All of these verses are a blessing because they speak to us about Who God is and about that He does for His people. In verse 28a Isaiah writes about the Names of God:
Everlasting God - This is the name “Elohim Olam.” This name identifies God as the “eternal God.” There has never been a time when He wasn’t, and there will never be a time when He isn’t. He existed when there was nothing but Him, and He will always exist.
Lord - This is the name “Jehovah.” This name identifies the Lords as “the Self-Existent One.” Every other being in the universe depends upon some other being for its existence. God depends upon no one. He exists within Himself, by Himself and for Himself.
He said to Moses that he was I am who I am – I will be what I will be.
Creator - This name identifies Him as the One Who made everything out of nothing. The God Who has the power to create worlds with just His Word. That is the God we serve! That is our Father! That is the God Who takes our part through all the tumultuous ways of life.
In verses 28b-29 Isaiah writes about the Nature of God:
He does not faint - God never becomes fatigues, despite the fact that He is “upholding all things by the word of his power,” Heb. 1:3.
He does not grow weary - He never grows tired from His labors. We do not have to worry about our Lord ever reaching the end of His strength. “3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand,” Psa. 121:3-5.
He Possesses all knowledge
What He knows is limited only by His Own limitations, which are limitless. He knowledge is beyond our human comprehension.
He Sees Everything
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” Pro. 15:3.
“For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings,” Job 34:21.
He shares His power, strength and help will all those who depend on Him! What an encouragement that should be to the people of God today!
Verse 30reminds us that even the strongest of humans is prone to weakness and failure. We all have the potential to experience times of physical, emotional and spiritual weakness. Regardless of how well you may have handled situations in the past, there is always the possibility that you will grow weak under a situation or a crisis.
Those that Wait on the Lord
However, verse 31a makes it clear that those who “wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.” The word “wait” has the idea of “looking to, or hoping in.” In other words, those who do not look to their own power, but who rest in His unfailing strength will have their own strength renewed our of His abundant, unending recourses.
The strength the Lord’s people enjoy as they move through the various changing vistas of life is an amazing provision from the Lord. Just as the grass appears upon the earth in the spring as if by magic, turning the brown, dreary landscape into a carpet of brilliant green, so the vitality of the believer is renewed from the vast supplies of the Lord. His gracious provision of strength for all the days of our lives, promises us that there will be grace regardless of where the path of life might lead us.
Patience works in all circumstances.
Fred Hammond "They That Wait on the Lord" featuring John P. Kee
Soaring - Sprinting - Strolling
I. Patience to Help You Soar
He promises here to help you “mount up with wings as eagles.” The words “mount up” mean “to ascend.” When an eagle flaps its wings and heads into the sky, it is a wonderful thing to behold. This great bird, held to the ground by the same gravity that binds us to the earth, stretches out those massive wings and with on great flap, it is airborne. It quickly rises, breaking the grip of gravity, rising higher until it is able to soar high above this world with its dangers, its strife and its problems.
Those who learn to “hope in the Lord” find that same kind of liberty in Him. He has a way of helping us break free from the things that bind us. He has a way of helping us to get above our problems, other people, sins, valleys, emotions, etc. He has a way of allowing us to soar above the difficulties of this life.
When an eagle in the sky encounters a storm, it does not have to land. It does not have to fly through that storm. The eagle turns its eyes toward the heavens and it rises above the approaching storm. While the storm lashes the earth beneath with its wind and rain, the mighty eagle flies above the clouds with its face toward the sun. That is possible for us as well. The Lord here promises to give you the strength you need to be able to surmount your storms and fly high above them through His grace.
He did this for the disciples. When Jesus died on the cross, the disciples were divided, discouraged and defeated. They were ready to quit. They believed that all their efforts to serve God had been wasted, and that their faith in Jesus Christ had been misplaced. Through the power of the Holy Spirit they were able to soar.
Consider Paul, He was an enemy of the church and of the Gospel. But, after he was saved by grace, he was empowered to soar high for the glory of God. God took Paul and transformed him into a dynamic missionary for Christ. Ill.Phil. 3:13-14, “13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” When Paul penned those words, he was in a Roman prison. But, that was merely his physical location. Spiritually, Paul was flying high in Jesus Christ, making a difference in his world.
II. Patience to Help You Sprint
The word “run” means, “to dart, or to move swiftly.”
Paul saw his own life as a race
1 Cor. 9:26-27, “26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
Phil. 3:13-14, “13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before
Where did Paul get this strength? He got it from looking to the Lord. He got it from waiting before the Lord. He got it from the only dependable, reliable, unfailing source. He got it from the Lord. Paul tells us that his strength was renewed day by day. Ill. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day,”2 Cor. 4:16. Paul was able to tap into this vast resource of spiritual strength because he was a man of prayer, he was a man of the Word, and he was a man of faith.
He will not fail you either. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that our life is also a race, Ill.Heb. 12:1-2, “1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The secret to successfully running this race day by day is inverse 2. We must always be “looking unto Jesus.” When we look to Him in prayer, in His Word, in waiting before Him for guidance and help, He will enable us to run our race without growing weary.
I can’t speak for you, but I want to finish well. I do not want to drop out along the way. I do not want to become weary and drop out of the race. I would like to keep my eyes on Jesus Christ, and sprint to the finish for His glory. It is possible, but only as long as I lean on Him.
III. There is Grace to Help You Stroll
I think this last gear of life describes most of life. Not every day of our lives is filled with excitement and adventure. Most of the time, our day to day lives are just spent walking with the Lord.
There are days when you are flying high and it seems like blessings are coming up all around. Then, there are days spent in a run, sprinting from one thing to the other. Those kind of days are exciting, but they are only a small part of our existence. Most of the days we live will just be spent strolling along with the Lord.
That was how Adam spent his days. According to Gen. 3:8-9, the Lord showed up in the Garden of Eden, walking in the cool of the day, looking for Adam.
Micah 6:8 says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
1 John 2:6 says, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”
There is something to be said for a consistent daily walk that never varies. There is something special about the saint of God who is steady. There is something special about that believer who is just always walking with the Lord. If you meet them today, they are still walking with Him like they were last year. If you meet them next year, they will still be the same. That is just an indication that they are spending time with the Lord day by day.
He gives grace to those who are just walking through the mundane events of their daily existence. We think that we are only serving the Lord when something big is happening in us and through us. The fact is, there is nothing bigger than a Christian who simply walks with the Lord day by day. There is something to be said for finding yourself in His Word every day. There is something to be said for spending time with Him in prayer every day. There is something to be said for simply walking with Him every day. There is grace for that!
When the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness…,”2 Cor. 12:9, He was saying, “Paul, I am going to give you the support you need to make it through this day and all the days that lie ahead.” We have that same promise! He is with us to help us be faithful day in and day out. Here is His promise: “16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you,”John 14:16-18.
As we faithfully walk with God day by day, with His help and His grace, we are ready when those times of sprinting and soaring come. Our success in those special times always comes from our faithfulness to stroll with the Lord every day.
Ill. David - There can be little doubt that day blended into day as David went about the monotony of keeping his Father’s sheep. Countless days, endless routines, the same things day in and day out. This is what marked the life of David.
Yet, it was in the monotonous routines of his life that David learned to be a man of God. It was there, alone on those mountains, doing the same things day after day that David learned the priceless lessons of faithfulness.
David applied himself to the task of giving his best during the mundane times of life. Then, when God promoted him, he did not have to learn to be faithful; he already knew how. He did not have to learn responsibility; he had already learned that lesson. God used the unending monotony of the routine to shape David for greater things.
When it came time for David to face Goliath, he was ready to run, because he had been faithful in his walk. When it came time for David to be the king of Israel, he was ready to fly, because he had been faithful in his walk.
In His time, He will bless you and reward you for being faithful during the routine times of life. And, when He does, you will be ready to soar or sprint, because you have been faithful in your daily stroll!
If He has spoken to you about your own walk with Him, and you need to seek His face for grace for your race, well, there’s grace for that too!
The word “renew” in verse 31 carries the idea of “exchange.” When we trust in Him, we exchange our weakness, for His strength. We exchange our inability for His ability. We exchange our shortcomings for His completeness.
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