"The Weekly Word"

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        So, you thought the weekly word would start with a scripture. 

You were waiting for it, right? Surprise, surprise! No, Brandon didn’t just go off the deep end or make a mistake, though I could have easily done so. No, during Advent, I wanted to consider the different topics I’m preaching on as I consider what it means for our lives. 

This past week I preached on the gift of mercy. And I just wonder, what does mercy mean to us? Like all the gifts of God offered through Jesus, it seems we are great with these things being offered to us, but we are more hesitant to extend them to others. 

So, what does God’s tender mercy, his continual compassion poured out and offered for you mean in your life? Do you feel the promise of Lamentations 2:22-23 in your soul? Do you truly feel great is God’s faithfulness? Morning by morning, do you truly see his new mercies shining all around, dawning a new day for you to embark on whatever the road has for you today? 

Truth be told friends, God’s mercy is so undeserved, many times it’s forgotten…Until that is, we need it, we want it! Wait, we need it all the time. It’s more in the vein of, we want it now! We don’t realize how much we want his mercy until the moment it becomes apparent to our humanly finite minds. 

However, do you think the Prophets of old and even the crowds of the early church in Acts or even the gospel writers were perfectly holy? I think not! However, we can be sure of this. They were more aware of God’s presence, and the continual need for us to draw on God’s mercy in a dry and weary land! 

So, my prayer would be we feel the blessing of God the same way he blessed Israel. Let us feel God’s tender mercy showering us. Let us feel and see God’s mercies new in our own hearts as we interact with those around us. And if we do, won’t things be so much lighter, both in our burdens we bare and the darkness which may engulf us?

To God be the glory 

Pastor Brandon