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"I'm thankful today because this is a day that
I have never seen before."
PAST
MESSAGES:
IT'S
JUST A MATTER OF TIME
WHAT'S
YOUR RESPONSE
DEFINED
BY LOVE
TOGETHER
WE STAND
BELIEVERS
ARE TO LIVE IN LOVE
FAITH
THAT'S ALIVE
GOD'S
WORD
BELIEF
IS NOT ENOUGH
HOW
I VIEW MY CHURCH
PSALM
92:1-4
FOUR
GREAT VISIONS
COMPLETE
SURRENDER
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"DOING
A NEW THING"
Isaiah 43:19 reads, “Behold,
I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall
ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness,
[and] rivers in the desert.”
I can recall overhearing a conversation
that my father once had with one of his parishioners. It
was during the initiation of this conversation that the
parishioner asked my father, “Pastor, how are you
today?” To this my father replied, “I'm thankful
today because this is a day that I have never seen before.”
It was while reflecting upon what this 2011 year will bring
that I found myself recalling these words from my father
with an uncompromisingly crystal clarity.
Just as my father was thankful
to God for having blessed him with another day that he had
never seen before, so I too find myself being thankful to
God for having blessed me to see 2011, because it is a year
that I have never seen before. I dare not take this monumental
blessing for granted, nor treat it as just another menial
and mundane moment that is bereft of significant meaning.
It is out of the abundance of God's loving-kindness and
tender mercies that I have been afforded a miracle of seeing
the beginning of this New Year.
Not only am I thankful for having
been blessed to see this New Year, but I'm equally thankful
for having been able to see this new year within the loving
embrace of my new Church Family. I am overwhelmed by the
abundance of love and warmth shown to both me and my family
by the people of God here at Mount Horeb. You have shown
yourselves to be no stranger to displaying and conveying
the love of God. I am truly thankful for beginning this
New Year as the Pastor of such a loving and caring congregation.
To each and every member of this
wonderful Church Family, I say to you, “Happy New
Year” and “Let's Go Forward!” For the
past 140 years, Mount Horeb has been moving forward. It
is in this regard that I would say to you that the journey
continues. Our going forward bespeaks a directional clarity
of progressive proportions. God has not brought us this
far by faith for us to turn back now. Beloved, I offer my
heart, my love, my gifts and my talents to you for the purpose
of going forward for the glory of God. It is with this in
mind, that I extend my hand to you and I say, “Let's
Go Forward!”
As our journey continues, let us
go forward in our worshipping God on purpose. There is a
great degree of intentionality that must go into one's worship
of the Eternal. Said differently, our recognition of the
eternality of God bespeaks the necessity of our intentionality
in worship. All that we do must have a purpose and in this
regard our worship is no different. For this reason, our
worship must be coupled with purpose. Above all other things,
this purpose entails both the knowledge and the acknowledgment
of the Divine as the Enthroned One of our human concern.
There is no better way to begin
a New Year as a Church Family than by worshipping God on
purpose. As we embark upon this New Year, we do so with
both open and uplifted arms, ever ready to embrace the endless
possibilities that it will bring. While contemplating the
vastness of this bright and brilliant future that we have
never seen before, let us remember the tone and tenor of
the words the Lord spoke as found in Isaiah 43:19 when he
said, “Behold, I will do a new thing;…”
Going Forward
Pastor H.B. Sampson III, D.Min.
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