This is the Pastor’s Blog for the Service on Sunday July 26th. This week the message is titled “Above All Else”. Included here is the primary Scripture of this message and the Pastor’s notes.
Scripture: Romans 8: 31-39
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.[a]35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pastor’s Message:
Let’s begin today with a story about a hymn. Horatio Spafford was a wealthy Chicago lawyer who lived in the mid-nineteenth century. He had a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, and a sizeable portfolio of real estate investments. He and his wife, Anna, had four daughters and a son. The Spafford family were active Christians, and Horatio was a student of scripture.
Everything seemed to be going so well for Spafford and his family until his young son contracted scarlet fever and died. Right around that same time the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 took place. Spafford lost all of his real estate investments in that fire.
In November 1873, Spafford booked a sailing trip to Europe for his wife and daughters seeking to provide a much-needed respite from their troubles and losses. He planned to join them in England a few days later after taking care of last-minute business. Before he left to board the ship he had booked for himself, he received word that the ship carrying his wife and daughters had collided with another ship and sank within twelve minutes. The wired message Spafford received from his wife said: “saved alone.” All four daughters had drowned.
During the journey across the Atlantic to join his wife, Spafford wrote the poem that would become the words to “It Is Well With My Soul.”
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way; When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say: It is well, it is well with my soul. Thou Satan should buffet, though trials should come; Let this blest assurance control; That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
Where did this come from? What word from the Lord did Spafford receive that was well with his soul?
This week, I spent some time looking back at my notes and sermons on these verses from Romans over the years. In many instances, I leaned into these verses for a funeral or memorial service. Other times, this text provided a “handle” to grab onto during a national tragedy, as was the case when I preached after the Boston Marathon bombings In 2013.
Other times, when life is just too heavy, I turn to these words and let them roll over me, allowing them to bring about a much-needed shift in my heart, mind, and soul.
So, our question today is: in the face of everything life can throw at us, is there a word from the Lord?
….. To BE Continued.
Please join us in Worship on Sunday June 26th at 10:45A to hear this complete message.
