January 3, 2021
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2021! We have crossed the threshold of another year. Each year brings with it days that are filled with challenges, opportunities, and possibilities. We have experienced a confluence of circumstances creating chaotic crises of unprecedented proportions. Covid-19, social protest, workers being furloughed, loss of income, stressed health care systems, overworked healthcare professionals, escalation of those with the virus spiraling upwards of 20,000,000 cases and upwards of 349,000 deaths and counting, ensuing high unemployment, financial collapse and protracted uncertainty. We are faced with managing and navigating our way through the uncertainty which continues to threaten our well-being.
There is a passage of scripture found in the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 23-24 which says,
22It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
This passage says it all. It is because the Lord’s compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is the Lord’s faithfulness toward us. While you may not know what a day will bring, you can be sure of the One who brings the day. Because the Lord is faithful we can circumnavigate the consequences of circumstances beyond our control. Because the Lord is faithful we can go forward into the future without fear but in faith. Because the Lord is faithful we can manage the messes that we and others make.
As you begin this year remembering the faithfulness of the Lord through your life from your earliest point in time to this moment let what has carried you this far continue to take you further.
The poet says, “Look to this day! / For it is life, the very life of life. / In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: / The bliss of growth / The glory of action / The splendor of achievement, / For yesterday is but a dream / And tomorrow is only a vision, / But today well lived makes every yesterday / a dream of happiness / And tomorrow a vision of hope. / Look well, therefore, to this day! / Such is the salutation to the dawn.
Let your faith in the Lord carry you through the uncertainty of a tomorrow with the assurance of the Lord’s faithfulness.
"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father / There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not / As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be
Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness / Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided / Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, / Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow / Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.
Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness / Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!"
-Pastor
Dr. William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
