Dear family and friends of WCPC:

 

 I want to talk a bit of theology with you this week.  Our Reformed faith holds that God is eternal, not limited by time.  There have been some who have imagined a God who created the universe and then stands back and watches it, unmoved and uninvolved.  The God that we encounter in the scriptures and who became flesh in Jesus Christ is not an uninvolved God watching, but part of the unfolding drama of history and time. 

 God is both part of time and God exists apart from time, since time is part of the creation.  Let me try and illustrate the point like this.  In Danville, Virginia there is always a Christmas parade down Main Street.  And I literally mean “down” since Main Street goes down a hill.  On Main Street there is a ten story building, the largest in Danville.  Some parade watchers when I was growing up would go to the roof of this building and watch the parade from there.  You could see it all pretty much at the same time – beginning, middle and end.  My family never went to the roof.  Instead we found a spot like most and watched the parade proceed, only able to watch the floats that were before us.

 God exists apart from time.  In other words God sees all of history – beginning, middle and end.  He sees my life, your life, as it begins, as we grow and mature, and as we enter into God’s Kingdom.  God sees it all.  But God is not limited by time or space, and so at the same time (and the word time is probably not the best to use) God is also present with me and you at our births, at all the points along the living of our lives, and also, at the end of our lives as well.  God doesn’t have to make a choice to either see the whole parade or only a part of it.  He sees the whole parade and is part of every unfolding act. 

 What’s the significance of this?  It gives me great comfort to know that God is not only with me right now, in the living of this moment and day, but that God also goes ahead of me, into tomorrow and is preparing the way.  God is not an observer.  God is the main actor in the drama.  That’s why Paul could say with complete confidence that God was at work in “all things” for the good (becoming Christ-like) of those who love him.  (Romans 8:28) 

 So whatever issues or concerns you have at this moment, know that God is not only aware, but God is also at work, right now and tomorrow.  God is not some uninterested deity.  God is active and involved in all of human history and your history as well.  So you and I can rest at night, unafraid of what tomorrow holds in store.  We may not know what the future holds, but we do know the one who holds the future and He can be trusted!

 Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  (II Corinthians 4: 16 – 18)

 Some have asked about the remaining five commandments we didn’t get to this summer.  Later we will finish but for now we’re turning our attention elsewhere.  This Sunday my message is entitled “The Bible that Jesus Loved.”  It’s based on Matthew 5:17.  I want to show you the connection between the Old and New Testaments and offer some suggestions on how to get the most out of your Bibles.   The following Sunday both services will be focused on WCPC’s recent mission endeavors.  Then on August 20^th we’re begin a new series I’ve entitled “Life on the Vine:  Cultivating the Character of Christ.”  The theme passage is Galatians 5 where Paul talks about the Fruit of the Spirit.

 See you on Sunday,

 David Jones