Prayer and Healing Service

Our regular Prayer and Healing Service will be this Wednesday,
January 16 at 6:30 pm.

Prepare your list of prayer concerns and join us as we pray for anyone with a special need in body, mind or soul.

Community Fellowship

Happy New Year!!!

Reminder….

Community Fellowship is Friday, January 4, 2019 at 11:00 AM

Start your new year off right by enjoying a covered dish luncheon with your neighbors.

Community Fellowship Nov. 2

What a great Fellowship gathering! Wonderful Food, Great Fellowship and a good message by Robin: ‘What is Enough??’

Fabulous Entertainment by the “Good Time Singers” from Darlington!!!

How Do You Act in the Midst of Suffering?

Please read 1 Peter Chapter 2 Verses 11-25

I think the Sheriff’s deputies and Florence City police officers as well as all the citizens of our county felt all those emotions this past week. Maybe after the initial shock and rush of adrenalin caused by what happened on Wednesday afternoon wore off, the feeling of being crushed, overwhelmed, devastated and torn apart set in and then came the heartbreak, and the sadness and the grief.

Do you think this caused the officers and deputies to give up and say, “What’s the point of trying to maintain law and order in this county?” or Maybe they said to themselves, “I must be in the wrong profession, I can’t make a difference in this job.”

No, Thursday they got out of bed, reported to work, and continued doing their jobs. They continued to follow the leadership of the County Sheriff and the Florence Chief of Police. They went about the business of defending and protecting the citizens of our county. Yes, they were still stunned by what happened, yes, they were still heartbroken; but they also knew that they had duties that must carry on.

In today’s passage, Peter reminds believers that we all have duties as children of the Creator. We must submit ourselves to every human authority whether that authority is our president, our governor, our law enforcement officers, our bosses, or any other person who has authority over us. Mr. Fred Hopkins certainly did not submit himself to every human authority and he did not submit himself to our Lord. We don’t know what his motives were for that shooting rampage, and may we may never know what his motives were, but one thing we can be certain about is that he did not show proper respect to the law enforcement officers, who are in authority. What is an even greater sin is that he did not submit himself to God.

In this letter, Peter says, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.” Mr. Hopkins used his freedom to own guns in an evil way and he broke the commandment of God, “Thou shalt not commit murder.”

Now none of us here would think of committing murder, but do we submit ourselves to every human authority? Do we strive to obey every aspect of God’s law?

Verse 17 of this reading tells believers to “show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God.”

All the true freedom human beings have comes from Our savior Jesus Christ.

When Jesus suffered the beatings and allowed himself to be crucified, he released us from the bondage of sin. He gave us the freedom to love God and to love each other in such a joyous way because we no longer had to fight the evil one alone. Our chains were thrown off and we were made whole. Jesus became our partner in the struggle against evil.

Peter encouraged the Christians of his time to submit to their masters who sometimes treated them unfairly; and we are also expected to submit to our employers and other persons in authority whether they are considerate or harsh.

It is a good practice to remember that people are always watching those of us who profess that we are Christians; so when people treat us with harshness and hate, and we don’t allow ourselves to return that same treatment to them, our actions just may lead those very same people to Christ just because they see the way we graciously submit ourselves to them and show them a forgiving, loving heart in spite of the way we are treated.

Some of our suffering is a direct result of our own sin, and some is the result of our own foolishness; some is the result of living in a fallen world.

However, some of our suffering is a result of doing good. The officers who responded to the call to help during the firefight this week were trying to do good, but they suffered anyway.
Sgt. Terrence Carraway died and 6 other officers were injured. They did nothing to deserve what they received.

Sometimes, we get caught up in a situation that tempts us to sin when we least expect it. We start out with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the way, things go terribly wrong and we sin. When this happens, we can’t do anything but confess the sin and ask for forgiveness.

We are encouraged to submit to our God, who is a gentle and kind master. This should be easy for us, but there are some people who just can’t submit to any kind of authority. They cannot admit their sins, and they cannot or will not ask for forgiveness. Jesus never sinned and yet he suffered so that we could be set free from sin. Jesus came to earth to show us that mercy and grace and forgiveness is available to everyone.

We struggle in our humanness to understand how God’s plan could allow Jesus to suffer when he never sinned. We also struggle when bad things happen to good people, and when bad things happen to us when we have good intentions. Nowhere in God’s word is there a promise that we will understand everything that happens to us or others. All we are promised is that God is in control and He has our best interests in his heart.

All we can do is face our sufferings as Jesus did; with patience, calmness and confidence and pray, “Our Father, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven.”