Remembering God’s Blessings

Have you ever walked into a room, in your own house, and after staring around asked yourself, “What did I come in here for?” Or been in a conversation and said out loud, “I had one more thing I wanted to say but I can’t recall it at the moment.” Ok, maybe you haven’t, but I have. I don’t recall exactly when it happened, but I’m pretty sure it has.

Remembering is more difficult than it used to be. For most people, life is moving faster, schedules are more crowded, and cognitive stimulation by content overload has become overwhelming. The vital is being smothered by the trivial; the essential is being swallowed up by the ubiquitous. How do you stay on top of the right things and remember what’s most important? 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits… so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 
Psalm 103.
King David the song writer beckons us to a better memory—and a better life—by the conscious effort to forget none of God’s blessings. His short list includes forgiveness, healing, redemption, grace, love, mercy and goodness. David then declares – somewhat audaciously – that recounting God’s benefits over and over again will reinvigorate our interior life to resemble a soaring young eagle!  This is poetry for sure, but he is offering a way to experience greater wind in your sails as you travel through this crowded, hurried world. Remember all that God has done for you and bless Him for it all.

While we commemorate 135 years of God’s faithfulness to Calvary Bible Church this August, what are the blessings God has given you and your family during your days at our church? Stir your memory. Make a list. Offer it to God as praise. Pass it on to your pastors to put wind in their sails to keep us all going for as many more years as God will give us as a church.

Here’s my top-ten list of blessings for which I thank God about Calvary:

  1. A congregation receptive to the authority of the Bible.
  2. Pastors and leaders who adhere to and proclaim the Word of God.
  3. Elders who pray for our congregation and lead in humble unity.
  4. Members who serve faithfully to advance Calvary’s ministry to kids, students, and adults, some on a platform but many behind the scenes.
  5. Members and attenders who give regularly and generously to support our annual budget and beyond.
  6. The historic commitment of the membership to pray for what God wants to happen at Calvary and to give Him all the glory for anything that has been accomplished.
  7. Buildings, properties, and resources to do ministry effectively in three unique communities.
  8. A diverse and talented staff team committed to unity, alignment, and effective. ministry across three campuses that serve three cities in three different counties
  9. Six generations of expanding impact without fracture or split!         
  10. That by His grace, our best days are still ahead.

Soli Deo gloria.
With you on the journey,
 
Tom