Dear Word of Life Family,
God bless all of you and I hope and pray that everyone is healthy and safe. These are crazy days
and unprecedented times we are living in. We hope and pray we can get back to having our
church services very soon. We will see how things go, but your health and safety are vitally
important. So, I don’t want to jump ahead too quickly. Thank you for your understanding and
support.
I want to thank everyone for tuning in on our Sunday morning worship services as well as our
Tuesday night live-stream prayer services. If there is anything good coming out of this, it’s the
fact that we are reaching thousands per month through our live-streaming services! It’s our hope
and prayer that people all over the world will be impacted by the Gospel of Christ. Think about
it…our little church on Silver Street has the capability of reaching people all over the world.
Please, check out our new website at www.marionwolcc.org. We are so thankful and excited
it’s up and running. You can listen to hundreds of messages as well as the Truth in Fact
Devotionals that are now available. Just click the Podcast link and it will bring you right to it. You
can click on the YouTube icon and listen to messages. To keep up with news and events at Word
of Life just click on the Facebook icon and it will bring you to the church Facebook page.
I know that the world is getting impatient and some are saying the Covid-19 virus is no different
than the flu, but that is just not true. Not to scare or put fear in anyone, but this virus is deadly,
and we must use wisdom and caution when moving forward. This is no game and nothing to play
around with. We are hoping and praying for a decrease in numbers in Ohio, but we are also
watching carefully Marion County. Due to the local prison (MCI) outbreak of the Covid-19 virus,
the infection is trickling out into the local population. Please be careful and if possible, wear a
mask everywhere you go. Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer. I do believe if the
precautionary steps were not taken to help flatten the curve, this would have been a lot worse.
Looking at the history of pandemics and viruses it doesn’t look that this is going away completely
any time soon. We will continue to trust God and use wisdom. God is sovereign and in control,
therefore, we will put our faith and trust in Him!
Let me share with you a Scripture from Hebrews 12:1-2. It says, “Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so
easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
In these extraordinary times I believe it’s imperative that we as Christians keep our eyes upon
Jesus! Why do I say that? As you can see, since we have to socially distance ourselves and due
to the constant negative news, this can easily drag us down. At times, we might find ourselves
fighting discouragement or depression. I have even had days where I was fighting depression or
oppression…kind of a darkness over my mind. Perhaps, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
You have been there or maybe you are feeling that way right now. I’ve read on the news where
a man committed suicide because he couldn’t cope with the social distancing. A woman doctor
in New York City recently committed suicide because the stress and pressure were just too much.
Some have lost hope and don’t see a way out of this.
However this virus was created, we know that Satan is behind the scenes desiring to destroy
lives! He comes to steal, kill and to destroy. He walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he
may devour! On the other hand, is this virus the judgment of God upon a nation, world or society
that has rejected God? Is this God’s impending conclusion upon a sinful world? We know that
unforgiven sin will not go unpunished!
We know that God sees all things and He can use this to accomplish His purposes. He may use
this to wake up a sleepy church to prayer or to bring about revival. God may use this to shake
the backslider or to save the lost! Perhaps, through this some might realize how vulnerable the
human body really is and begin to look to God for help or answers. It could be through this that
the church will repent of their sins and be purified through the fiery trial of their faith.
Regardless, as saints of God we know that He is in control! There is never a time when God is not
in control. This virus didn’t catch God by surprise. Is it plausible that God has lowered the
proverbial hedge of protection upon a society just to show how vulnerable and weak their man-
made defenses really are? Oh, my beloved friends in the faith, we need the Lord! We can’t make
it without Him! We need His help, protection, strength, wisdom and salvation! We can do
nothing apart from Christ! If anything, this has shown me just how much we need the Lord! It
has shown me how powerless we are without God!
What’s the answer? Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith…” The way this is written in the Greek text indicates that this is not just an occasional glance
at Jesus. One way to translate this text would be, “let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus” or “let us
keep looking at Jesus” or “let us keep thinking about Jesus.” All of these are good and help us to
understand the text. In the Christian life we don’t just think about Jesus on Sunday, but every
day! Christ is our life! And the only way we are going to make it through life, trials, calamities,
plagues or pandemics is if we keep our eyes of faith on Christ! He is our source of faith, strength,
power and wisdom!
In this life, there are so many things that can slow the Christian down. Not only will sin entangle
us and slow us down, but also the cares of this life! But listen, we have a race to run! Forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead! If we are
going to run this race properly, then we must keep our eyes on Jesus! If we are going to finish
this race well, we must keep our eyes on Jesus! It’s Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! There is no other
way! As we keep looking to Jesus, He will empower you, help you, give you the spiritual stamina
and strength you need! The Lord is right there helping you, picking you up when you fall, helping
you to get through the day, and bringing you through the darkness into the light! Be
strengthened and encouraged my dear friends in the Lord! Know that God is present and has a
handle on everything that’s going on! Let’s continue to look to the One who is in complete
control!
God bless you all,
Pastor Mark!