Newsletter, 11/27/20

11/29/2020 Sunday’s Sermon by Nick Perez

Against the Grain ~ One Nation Back to God

Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. Daniel 9:17, ESV

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Resiliency (2)

By Nick Perez

More than ever God’s people need resiliency. Resiliency is the quality that enables to be flexible during,
and bounce back from difficulty. Our level of resiliency is being tested during the global pandemic, especially with the stay-at-home reinstituted. We know how frustrating it is to live under stay-at-home orders. We want to go out, go to church services, but we cannot gather right now. It is frustrating to be unable to do the things you want to do.

I think of Moses while leading the people of Israel in the wilderness. Forty years of wandering with people who complained and griped. Moses got frustrated at one point and struck the rock when he was supposed to speak to it. It cost him his entrance into the Promised Land. We can get frustrated, even angry. But Scripture says, “Be angry, and do not sin.”

Kim and I lived in Arizona for four years. Arizona is hot! I can remember putting Christmas lights
up in shorts. You drive across the Southwest and much of it is desert. Dry, sun-scorched land, colorful rocks, tall mesas, scrubby shrubs, and not a few cacti. However, in the midst of the desert there is inevitably a single bright green tree flourishing in the middle of the desert.

I have wondered about those trees: how are they able to survive and even thrive in the midst of the
desert? Well, those trees grow up next to a water source, even a seasonal one. Their roots grow deep into the soil and they are able to survive in the harsh climate of the desert and even bear fruit. My prayer is that you have sunk your roots deep in God so that during this dry period you are still able to thrive.