Here’s the quote from Octavius Winslow. I read it in his book called Our God.
“Oh you of little faith! Is not our God the ‘God of all grace’? Why, then, do you reason, doubt and fear this way? Bring your perplexities to God and He will guide them. Bring your needs to God and He will supply them. Bring your mountains to God and He will level them. Bring your sins to God and He will forgive them. Bring your sorrows, trials and temptations to Him, and He will sustain you under them and bring you through them, to the praise and glory of His great Name. Your supplies may be exhausted, but not His fullness. Your need may press, but there is no pressure in His sufficiency. Your power may be limited, but His is illimitable. Your grace may be shallow, but His is fathomless. And you may ask, ‘Where will my next supply come from?’ while, at the very moment that the anxious question is trembling on your lip, the supply that is to silence it is laid up in the inexhaustible treasures of His grace and will be sent at just the moment that will awaken in you the sweetest song and yield to Him the richest glory.” Octavius Winslow
The health and proper functioning of our church (or any local church) is dependent on every member doing his/her part. The Apostle Paul captures this idea perfectly in the 4th chapter of his letter to the church at Ephesus when he writes in verses 15-16: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. From whom the whole body, joined together by ever joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
As you celebrate this day of thanks with family and friends, we want you to know how very grateful we are for you – our church family. God has been gracious and good to us as a people for yet another year, and whether you have been a part of our church for all 24 years or have just begun to come, we thank God that He has brought you to SGC. We are grateful for all your abiding faith toward God our Father, for your love toward one another born by the Spirit, and for your passion to make the Jesus known.
Last week I had the privilege of preaching from 1 Peter 2:4-10, which is all about the church. I know I’m not alone when I say I love the church. I have been a part of a growing and thriving local church, where people worship Jesus and build their lives together and reach out to others almost my whole life. Charles Spurgeon once called the church “the dearest place on earth” and I, like many of you, have come to share that sentiment. What a wonderful thing it was to be reminded of the power and glory of God continues to shines through His church.
