The Glory of God is Eternal

August 7, 2024

Leadership Notes

     I might as well get this out of the way. I can’t believe most kids go back to school in two weeks or less. Tecumseh Public Schools start in 11 days. Yikes. Do you remember being young and in summer? I dreaded the countdown to the start of a new school year. My friends and I spent too much time enjoying long bike rides and backyard swimming pools and late nights. That changed heading into my junior and senior years of high school. I looked forward to cross country season and choir. How about you? What memories does mid-August evoke for you?

      As the days grow shorter {sunset tonight is at 8:46} and the Olympics wind down, our thoughts winsomely turn toward fall. Halloween candy is out in all the stores. Octoberfest beer has hit the shelves. Yet summer is still here. Summer is not yet out of reach. It lingers in a most appealing way. And thanks to Tecumseh, the Regrigeration{if you know, you know}Capital of the World, air conditioning provides an escape from any late summer heatwaves.

     The calendar also indicates we are winding up our sermon series on Obadiah. I don’t know about you, but for me, it has been a joy and a treasure. I especially love how our praise songs and hymns have tracked with the messages. Thank you, Ben! Beginning September 1 we turn our attention to The gospel According to Luke. We will examine the birth narrative of Jesus in September.

     As a follow-up to Sunday’s {August 4} message, here’s a fitting observation from Dustin Benge:

God is sovereignly independent of everyone and everything.

He acts according to His own pleasure.

He gives account to no one.

He is the potter, His creatures the clay.

No one can thwart His plan.

The nations are “less than nothing” before Him.

As we’ve heard all summer, those five points are echoed throughout Obadiah.

     Finally, onward and upward to another positive story from the Paris Olympics.

     Sydney McLaughlin will be competing in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400 relay. She won gold in both events in the last Olympics. But that’s not the best thing about this remarkable young athlete. Listen to her words of faith:

“Records come and go, the glory of God is eternal. I no longer run

for self-recognition, but to reflect His perfect will that is already

set in stone. I don’t deserve anything. But by grace, through faith,

Jesus has given me everything.”

What a beautiful testimony to her faith. An amazing woman.

     As if that isn’t enough inspiration, here’s your Moment of Spurgeon:

“It is the right and portion of {all} believers to live in the

assurance that they are reconciled to God, that God loves them,

and that they are God’s children, and if they doth not so live, they

have themselves only to blame.”

     With Much Love and Affection,

                     Richard