Dear church,

I’ve been mulling around on particular verse from Psalm 121 as I’m preparing a message for this weekend. In verse 3 we read “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” Psalm 121 is “A Song of Ascents” meaning it was read as groups and individuals would prepare to make their way up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem sits UP on a plateau of the Judean mountains, specifically the Mount of Olives. So, pilgrims preparing to journey to Jerusalem would read this text as a way to ask, “As I journey Lord, I need some help.”

Many (we) are so afraid of asking for help. Think of the first time that it snows. Everybody on the block is out there snow blowing their own driveway and sidewalks. If someone comes by to help you out, we might take it as an insult. “I’m fine, I can do it myself.” And then, there’s that one time that the snowblower doesn’t start, and we’ve got to shovel by hand! It is hard to ask for help!

I’m curious about you. We’re often afraid to move forward because we might stumble. Pastor Mike said a while ago to a group here, “Rather than being afraid of failure, let’s fail and learn from it.” I really like that concept because it’s freeing for our daily lives! Think of the things that we might not even try, because we think, I’ll look funny, or worse yet, I might be embarrassed.

I think about that as New Life too. “We couldn’t possibly!” Who? Us?” “Well, maybe if we had more members, volunteers, resources, then we could try!” These are typically our responses when faced with something new. We’re afraid of failure! 

I did this a few weeks ago, when we were asked how many families we’d again “adopt” for the Warrior Christmas Giving this year. “How many families?” “Well it’s always a stretch, we’ll take the same number as last year.” And then we saw your response in just one week. How generous you are.

See, God has got us, and encourages, pulls and supports us on our journey, even in slippery spots, the spots where we need to hold on for support! God has got us and will not let us go. The LORD really is our strength in times of need. We are going to adopt two more families!

Thanks be to God for you and for your generosity, and for the LORD who holds us and will not let our feet be moved.

Peace and much Love in JESUS:)

Pastor Nate