January 8, 2021

 Dear Road Church Friends,

My prayers continue for all of you, as together we begin another year in faith and hope that God will bring us safely through the challenges that still lie ahead. I pray for your continued good health in body, soul and spirit. I also add my prayers to yours for our country in these troubled times of transition. We are instructed to pray for everyone and for our political leaders in particular, “that we may live quiet and peaceful lives.” I pray for us, that we can try our best to rise above the fray and be salt and light to our culture. We are called to be agents of reconciliation that bring blessing. Let’s be gracious in our speech. May our goal be to bring out the best in others in our conversations so we make friends, not enemies.

PEACE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

O Lord our God, thy mighty hand, hath made our country free,

From all her broad and happy land may praise arise to thee.

Fulfill the promise of her youth, her liberty defend,

By law and order, love and truth, America befriend!

The strength of every state increase in Union’s golden chain,

Her thousand cities fill with peace, her million fields with grain.

The virtues of her mingled blood in one new people blend,

By unity and brotherhood, America befriend!

O suffer not her feet to stray, but guide her untaught might,

That she may walk in peaceful day, and lead the world in light.

Bring down the proud, lift up the poor, unequal ways amend,

By justice, nation-wide and sure, America befriend!  Amen.

Henry van Dyke

 The title of my message this Sunday is, “I Once Was Blind, But Now I See” using scripture from the whole Gospel of John 9 which are verses 1-39. I was inspired by those words in the Hymn, Amazing Grace, by John Newton. The lyrics to that Hymn are autobiographical. After a mid-life conversion experience, Newton reproached himself for the moral blindness that dominated the first half of his life. He despised the fact that he had captained slave ships and got rich from it. His faith convinced him that the slave trade was an abomination, and he dedicated the rest of his life to its abolition. I am convicted by those words every time I sing them. It is important that we recognize we have blind spots. To do so keeps us humble and it opens the door to our experience of God’s amazing grace.

Blessings,

Pastor Norm

Road Church YouTube service for Jan. 10, 2021: https://youtu.be/6dNuYMVGKDA