[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Sunday, June 24 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good evening to my fellow saints of the Most High God residing in the western hemisphere.  I say this because I think we have someone from Jamaica named Robert who technically doesn't reside in North America, but resides on an island some 90 miles or 150 kilometers south of Cuba.  Anyway how was your day in the Lord today? Mine was good; in fact, the Lord led me to stay where I am and not to change churches.  However we do have some decisions to make, whether to sell the building and worship in members' homes like some churches do or perhaps with God's leading find a niche that isn't being served by the eight or nine other churches within walking distance of where I live.  So please pray that God's will be done, or that, if we have to close our doors after 40 years, that He will lead us individually to whatever congregation He desires that we should go to.  Thanks for your prayers on behalf of our small 15-member adult congregation.

Our words of inspiration this evening come from the pen of Marty Haugen.  He or she wrote a poem entitled "Be Still My Soul," but in reading the words, they won't jive with the well-known Gospel hymn by the same name set to the tune of "Finlandia" by Jan Sibelius.  Anyway the words somehow seem to fit my mood for the evening, and I hope the Lord will speak to you individually through them.  They are rendered as follows:

Be still, my soul, before the Lord, for God is near.
Before your mind is moved to pray, God listens and will hear.
You need not multiply your words nor pray with practiced art.
Beyond all speech, God understands the hunger of your heart.

Wait, then, in quiet confidence, your anxious thoughts at rest,
God knows your need before you ask and works for what is best.

Be still, my soul, before the Lord; on God in patience wait.
God's love, unseen, surrounds your life;
God's help will not be late.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  This is the ardent prayer, hope and desire of your Christian brother, Paul.