The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
I have the honor of being a speaker at the Midwest Founder’s Conference this week at First Baptist Church of Fenton (so pray for me!). The subject I’ve been assigned concerns our church’s journey in biblical reformation. For those who don’t know the story, it’s quite a tale. I came to this church fresh out of seminary in 1991, head full of dreams, but pretty much clueless about what it takes to lead a church biblically. And while you’d think that’s the kind of thing they would have covered at my seminary, the truth is, much of what I received there was focused on learning how to increase the number of attenders in a service, rather than building faithfully on the sure foundation of the gospel.
But God is faithful. One good thing I did receive from seminary was a commitment to preach the Word verse by verse, week after week. And in the process of studying and preaching God’s word, much began to change – first in me, and then in our church. God opened our eyes to His sovereignty and to the beauty of the Doctrines of Grace upon which any clear understanding of the Gospel must rest! And in doing so, He laid the foundation upon which the health and joy of this congregation continues to be built.
But perhaps the most encouraging thing I got to do this week in preparing this message was read through 28 years of personal journals to remind myself of all that God has done! What struck me was how faithful God has been despite my many failures! How quick I have been to want to give up when things got hard! How easy to was to fall into despair and unbelief! And yet how incredibly faithful God has been time and again! God truly is good. He leads his trusting children as they keep looking to Him. He works through His word to bring about His purposes. He keeps His every promise. What a great God we serve!
Rejoicing as I remember His Faithfulness
Pastor Scott Lee