I’m writing this on Saturday afternoon, before I officiate Bonitta Bowman’s funeral service. I’ve already gotten an urgent call to prayer from Tom Coogle’s uncle’s pastor, for Tom’s uncle, who was in one of my former churches. Last night I saw an email from the conference, that one of my pastor friends had lost his daughter-in-law, and that service is tomorrow. It seems that sickness and death are all around us.
The reality is, unless Jesus comes back before then, we’re all going to die. Have you made peace with that? Do you have hope that you are going to see all of those that you’ve lost to death in this life, those who had a relationship with Christ, again; that you will spend eternity with them with Jesus? I hope so. I pray so.
Either way, I want to encourage you to take action. If you haven’t made that decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I want you to do that. If you have questions, I’d love to talk to you. But don’t say I will someday, but right now… We don’t know what today holds, let alone tomorrow.
If you’ve made the decision, I want you to do two things. First, don’t stop once you get in the door. Be intentional about continuing to grow in that relationship. Make it the priority it is supposed to be in your life, and not something you get around to when you don’t have anything better to do.
Secondly, and this goes for people who haven’t made a decision as well, get your affairs in order. That sounds really strange to some, I know. I tell couples I’m doing premarital counseling with, they need to get a lawyer and get a will. I encourage young couples to talk about what they want when they die with their spouses. We don’t ever seem to get around to doing that. Along those lines, I want to offer a seminar on What You Need to Know About Death and Dying. It helps get some of those things on the table, and may help you with dealing with parents or your own affairs. The Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise – I plan on teaching the seminar on Saturday, October 16th, at 9:00 AM, in the Social Hall. The next day, I hope to start a sermon series on “Good Grief.”
If we can help you to have hope, we want to do that. We’re a phone call away!
In Christ,
Chip
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