1 Cor. 10:13 & 2 Cor. 5:17 "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down, he'll never let you be pushed beyond your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." & "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; new life burgeons!" (The MSG Bible in contemporary language).
Congratulations Church, you've aided the evolution and growth the of two young Affirmands, to the point of joining the flock! Seriously now, the families of Hannah Burr and Jake Houlihan are the greater influencers of them toward Christianity and church membership, but you the 'body of Christ' have played a role in these two young lives over the past, several years. I haven't been part of these youth's Faith Formation, but their choices of the above scriptures from the apostle Paul's letters to the Corinthian church tell me, that you have [been there]. Collectively, you've helped them come through their awareness, acceptance and decision toward God and new life is burgeoning in them. Their mentors, encouraging and revealing words around character coupled with the youth's readings of their Statements of Faith speak of them grasping what the life of Jesus and our Bible espouses.
Tis so poignant to yours truly, that Jake and Hannah chose the verses above as their basis of those faith documents. I don't know about you but the valuable reminder that God won't allow me to be stretched beyond my limit keeps me open to His guidance and banking on hope, rather than a despair-like posture. I'm reminded of Niebuhr's original Serenity Prayer, encouraging me to "take as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it". Like me, you're possibly facing testing in some aspect of your complicated existence, that 'feels' unique or beyond what others have had to endure. Perhaps forced distancing, or changes from normalcy, or a secret deficiency, or apathy or angry disgust toward the current political climate, or sub-conscious participation in systemic racism, or ...?.. whatever, has you isolating rather than speaking or behaving Christianly. We however, who choose to be united to the Messiah distinguish loneliness from chosen alone-ness. I am wise to isolate with God regularly which serves to quell lonesomeness. My weakness can be brought to light and gone; a fresh start can be gotten! I'm grateful to Hannah and Jake for their testimony and refresher course; and for teachers at FFC who stood in the gap shaping young minds toward truth and the greater good that those lives will sow.
May wisdom, sanity, discretion, knowledge, good counsel & common sense grace your day. Kevin (& Deacons)