This Could Be The Year...

I have heard the Bible described as the handbook on how we should live as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I believe that every story, every promise, every command was God-breathed to help us navigate our time here on earth. Even after the last 13 months; even after all the isolation, heartbreak, injustice, and fear, - after all the confusion of the last year - I believe that God was working His mighty plan and was in every detail. The Bible contains all the proof and reassurance we needed to get through the incredible hardships people have experienced. So why aren’t we walking in freedom? Why are we still scared, angry, or lost? Have we forgotten the power that comes with the Name of Jesus? Have we stopped looking to His Holy Word for guidance or have we lost faith in His perfect plan for each of us? Have we forsaken God’s promise that when all else fails, He doesn’t? My prayer is that with everything that we have gone through, we might be desperate enough to cling tight to His promises. I pray that this might be the year that we take Him at His Word.

This concept is not foreign to us at Mercy House. To see the needs here in West Montgomery can be overwhelming. To hear our neighbors’ stories and see the impacts of generational poverty, systemic oppression, and injustice is heartbreaking. I think that seeing the older teens is the hardest part. They are old enough to understand how hard it is to make a way right now and they also understand that unless something miraculous changes for them, they will be struggling to make their own way through soon enough. When you can’t see a future beyond West Montgomery, a future beyond unemployment, a future beyond drugs, a future beyond poverty… you usually stop looking. And that is where we get to step in and lift the veil of failure and despair. God didn’t remove the Red Sea, He parted it. Sometimes God doesn’t remove your problems, He makes a way through them. God is using Mercy House and New Walk of Life Church to make a way through these days and laying the groundwork for tomorrow. We believe that there is always hope.

Romans 15:1 reassures us with the words -  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Matthew 11:28 comforts us in saying - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

These scriptures are just the beginning of what the Bible promises to those that love Him. We just have to continue to share God’s Word with the people of Washington Park. We must never grow weary of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, and we must continue to pray bigger and more confident prayers. We are praying that those that we have the honor of serving will take the unconditional love and eternal salvation that God is offering. We pray that our neighbors will take us being here as a sign that God has not forgotten a single person. We pray that every one of our neighbors will take up their cross and follow Him. And we pray that this will be the year that West Montgomery will take Him at His Word. You are invited to join us as we watch the Bible come alive and as we all stand firm on the promises of God.

God Bless,

Pastor Ken Austin