150 Feet of God’s Faithfulness!
He went on a three -day hike to spend time alone with the Lord. On Saturday, as he was traversing a rock fall, he slipped and fell 150 feet, breaking his ankle in the process. He splinted his ankle with pieces from his back pack, gathered wood, built a fire and waited. And waited. And waited. He fired his 45-caliber hand gun periodically to attract attention. And waited. He nibbled at his supply of food and sipped his water. And waited.
I remember this event clearly because the hiker was Tim Bailey, son-in-law of our own Ane and Hank Weber. When Tim was late returning, his wife Whitney, Hank and Ane’s daughter and a child of our church, reported him missing. And the call for prayer went out. We were all on our knees asking for God’s mercy.
This Sunday, we will hear Tim’s story from his own lips as I interview him for our ongoing sermon series on the Psalms of Ascent. We will deal with the theme of Perils. Psalm 124 starts with the wonderful words, “If the Lord had not been on our side…”. When we think of our own perilous life moments when God was so obviously present and preserving us, it is a great encouragement for those perilous moments yet to come. We will look back, we will look forward, and we will be awestruck by the incredible promise that God is “on our side!”
Come, bring a friend (as Dr. Dudley urged last week) and prepare to meet God!
Pastor Mark
P.S. Don’t forget, November 17 is Jubilee Sunday. One service only at 10:00 to celebrate fifty years of God’s faithfulness to our church. You won’t want to miss it!