Announcements

Betty Watson is home now and feeling much better. She is thankful for all the prayers.

Bob Powers is feeling better. It was good to have Bob and Shirley with us this past Sunday morning.

Janie Daniel came home Thursday. Tamara is in VA now helping her grandmother and James

Ray & Jona Ra are in their new home in SC. They send their love and said they will be communicating by email.

The 18th annual Pike Road Lectureship is this Saturday March 13th. From 9:00-5:00

Pike Road’s gospel meeting is March 18-21.

Prayer List:

William McGhee

Janie Daniel

George Kimble

Jackie Pelly

Coleen Crow

Chris Sullivan

Bob Powers

Betty Watson

Rick Watson

Margaret Smith

Randolph Garrett

Connie Baker

Danny Myers

Mildred Pleasant

All our visitors & those who serve in the military

The Future

The future.
We all think about it from time to time.  We wonder about what will happen to us, our families, the stock market, government, etc.  This wondering can turn into anxiety.  At a time of uncertainty in our lives a friend gave us a small plaque for the wall which reads:

“We know not what the future holds but we know who holds the future"

Some observations on the wisdom of that brief message.
We do not know what the future holds.  We can speculate, but we do not know for certain.  Thank God we do not know!

A few years ago there was a television show called Early Edition.  The weekly plot revolved around the main character receiving a copy of the next day’s newspaper each morning.  He would read it and then set out to prevent some of the tragic events recorded such a child being hit by a car or a fire started by an overloaded electrical outlet. Usually he was successful in stopping the tragedy before it occurred.  But once in a while he was prevented from arriving in time and would witness the event he tried to prevent.  Imagine if such a scenario were really possible.  How would it feel to know what was going to happen and not be able to stop it?
God knows what He is doing by not allowing us to know the future.

Some coming tragic event would overwhelm our ability to function day by day.

We must never forget……………… GOD IS ABLE!

Where does that leave us?  With a loving Father in heaven who not only knows the future but also holds it.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and heard the rebuke of God; I imagine they thought about what would happen as a result.  Had they condemned all of their descents?  God let them know one was coming who would defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15).  The Old Testament is filled with the evidence that God knows what is coming and will see His people overcome if they will trust Him.

When the early church began, there was Jewish opposition which might have seemed disastrous; but God used it to see the great commission fulfilled.  When Rome determined to eliminate Christianity from the world it probably looked grim to many.  The persecutions continued periodically for over 200 years.  How could God allow it?  What would become of the church?  God knew what was coming and when it would be stopped. The Revelation given to John the apostle on Patmos told the church what to expect and how God in His own time would deal with Rome.

We serve a God who holds the future.  Come what may, He is still in control.  We may not understand why some things are allowed to happen, but God knows.  As we face the future let us count our blessings and remember: