Christ in a World of Tsunamis

Let's all join together and pray for the people of Japan suffering in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami.  

If you are led to give to relief support, please go to our website - www.bellwetherchurch.org. On our home page, there is a link to World Vision & UMCOR: two Christian organizations actively engaged in relief.  You will be able to see what they are currently doing for the victims and opportunities to give.  Bellwether is working on more direct ways to give to those suffering in Japan. We will be communicating about these ways to you in the near future.  

It's difficult to watch scenes of the massive tsunami mowing down everything in its path.  It's tougher to hear the numbers of people who've died, and to imagine homes and lives literally washed away.  This is not the first time we've seen this.  Natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes - seem more and more frequent.    

One of the biggest questions I get as a pastor is:  why does God let these things happen?  How can an all loving, good God, stand by as thousands of people die needlessly.  The question can be boiled down to - why do bad things happen to good people?  You can ask this on a global level of earthquakes or on a personal level of loved ones battling diseases, suffering, and dying. When hit with such times, many people give up on God or lose their faith.

I believe our faith in Christ is relevant and powerful in the midst of bad things, suffering, disasters, and yes even evil itself.  I believe God wants us to live strong lives of faith, amidst tragedy and death.  I believe He has given us the tools to do so by His Spirit and in His Word.

Sunday, we continue our Lenten series "Last Days."  This is an important and vital series for you and our church.  Why?  Because we will look specifically at what Jesus said and did in the last days of His Life leading to the cross.  In those days, we find answers of how to live in Him here and now.  In His Last Days, He shows us how to keep our faith strong in the midst of any tsunami - physical or emotional.  

I hope you'll be with us for worship Sunday.  I hope His last days will lead to your first day of truly believing:  "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing can separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 8: 38