Prayers for a Neighbor

   “My daughter asked for prayers for her neighbor in the apartment building. He had started drinking heavily after he had been told his lease would not be renewed, about the same time that he got laid off since his work place shut down. My daughter and her husband don’t know the whole story, but he was a good neighbor and they had gotten along; they are troubled for him and praying for him. The police stopped by just a couple of nights ago. It wasn’t confrontational, just trying to get him out of the apartment and to a place where he could get some help.”

   The scene described above is being played out repeatedly across the country: neighbors in turmoil, jobs disappearing, housing that once could be counted on suddenly can’t be any longer. People’s lives are affected, and there is no thought of tomorrow for them because getting through today will be challenge enough. Please take a moment to pray for someone you know who is facing an overwhelming challenge.

   Last week our Bishop (Bishop Tracy Malone) shared these words of encouragement for times such as these:
   “God has not brought us this far to leave us now. We are being called and prepared to be the     church at such a time as this. We are called to be God’s witnesses in this world that so desperately needs to know the love, the joy and the hope of Jesus. As Psalm 27 reminds us, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation. So why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger. So why should I tremble?’ Let us hold fast to these words and to these promises. And remember that with the Lord on our side, and with us praying together and uniting together in being the hands of feet of Christ together, we will come through this together.”

    We will come through this together—both for our sakes and for the sakes of others too, for the deserving and the undeserving, for those who are sore afflicted and those able to offer succor to their neighbor in need. Through Christ all things are possible, and together we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. May you be blessed to be a blessing this day,
—Pastor Tom