Tuesday, April 14, 2020 Fear#28

Dear Trinity Baptist Church Family: The theme of the little book of Joel is The Day of the LORD – that day when God works mightily to judge and set everything right. Israel is the focus of that day and after the judgments in the land of Israel seen early in chapter 2, we read this in Joel 2:21-24: “Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! 22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.” My take away? God cares about restoring the economic conditions that follow judgment. I do not pretend to know what God is thinking or doing in our current world. What I do know is that He cares for His own. Jesus said God cares about the sparrow that falls so we ought to rest in His care for us. To God, we are worth more than sparrows!

I’ll attach again the Here a Little so you have a devotional guide to use to prepare for Sunday if you’d like. Also, send in prayer requests you have that you’d like Pastor Shaeffer to remember when he prays at our broadcasted Bible study tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m.

Pray for our missionaries today. In Scotland the quarantine rules the Bergens are working under are more draconian than we have here in Wisconsin. I’m sure in many places in this world there are shortages of more than bleach wipes and Friday fish fries. I’m thinking about where our missionaries are in Brazil (Peace), Mozambique (Troester), Bolivia (Price), South Korea (Oetman’s church – they are in Indiana), and the Philippines (Lubuguin). We have a letter from the Boisverts in this coming week’s bulletin. Cheryl’s 94 year old dad passed away. (It had nothing to do with COVID-19.) The Boisverts ministry is being greatly hindered by COVID-19. They have reports from refugee camps in East Africa where there is no food and yet some of Doug’s former students continue holding seminars to train other pastors. Pray for these un-named men and their families.

Embracing Truth, Pastor