“Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.” Psalm 100

One of my favorite hymns is “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. In fact, if the Lord decides to take me home before His return I want this sung at my funeral. They reason is simple...God is faithful. Not only that but when I have stumbled, fallen, & royally made a mess of things God has been there to discipline me, carry me, and forgive me. 2 Timothy 2:13 puts it this way, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” When we are born-again we are made children of God. We are joint heirs with Christ and therefore are joined to God through the blood of Jesus. Because of this He is not going to turn His back to us, He will not deny us or reject us.

Of course, this does not mean we grab forgiveness and then jet out the door towards the next sin. 1 John is very clear that when we are saved we no longer walk in darkness because we have been given a new nature and begin desiring the things of God. BUT, as we struggle and strive (imperfectly) in this Christian walk we can know that our God is there. He is empowering us in our weakness, providing wisdom in times of need & comforting us when nothing else will.

In short...GOD IS FAITHFUL

I have seen this most recently inside the Disciple Ship. We just went through two major conferences and a jump to three services. I had doubts but God was faithful, and so where several of you.

So now I ask the tough question and it may sting a little. Since God has been faithful to us...should we not be faithful to Him? God did provide people to help serve during the conferences, but many of them pulled double (and triple) shifts. Is it fair to ask just 10 out of 150 people to be faithful and serve above & beyond? The answer is of course “no”. I know some may have had legit responsibilities (and I am not here to belittle anyone) but let me challenge you to pray about other events coming up and how you may help. As God continues to bless CCOT we will need to step up and make sure we are being faithful with what we have because what we have is from the One who is always faithful.