The God Who Provides

Author: Mark Fenstermacher
March 04, 2022

“Are you temporary?” someone asked a few weeks ago.

With a twinkle in my eye, I responded, “We’re all temporary.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh,” they said as they realized that we all—one way or another—move along. 

I remembered that exchange after we announced Sunday that the Reverend Rob Barton has been appointed to serve as Lead Pastor at First UMC beginning in September of this year. At the end of the Summer (I’ll be here serving with you for much of the next six months), I’ll be handing you off to a wonderful, Christ-centered, experienced, servant-leader. 

Rob and Pastor Nikki are going to make a great pastoral team for our congregation. I am convinced that the next chapter will be one of the best this Jesus-community has ever had.

We have a significant period of time together, you and me, and I am leaning into what God will do in and through us in these coming months.

“Are you temporary?” someone asked a few weeks ago.

“”We’re all temporary,” I answered. And so we are.

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What’s not temporary is God’s love in Christ. 

Chapters begin and chapters end.

People come and people go.

But Paul, in 1st Corinthians 13, reminds us that “faith, hope, and love abide.” These things last. These things are constants. They never go away. 

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Another thing worth remembering is that we have a God who provides. We can forget that in the middle of life, when we’re scrambling to survive, but God provides. Abraham discovered when God provided a ram for the offering. Hagar discovered that when she was in the wilderness. The people of Israel discovered that when they were in Sinai on their way from Egyptian slavery to the promised land. The disciples—and the crowds—discovered that when a few small loaves of bread and a couple of fish were used by God to feed thousands.

We have a God who provides.

That’s a good thing to remember when we end chapters and begin chapters. That’s a good thing to remember when we peer into the future and wonder what exactly is ahead: God provides.

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I would ask that you pray for our church, Pastor Rob, his wife, Lesley, their children, and for me as we lean into the good God has in store for us.

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I would also ask that you pray for the people of Ukraine, as well as those Russian conscripts who will either lose their lives in Putin’s invasion or lose much of their humanity as they brutalize others. This current conflict is unnecessary and will ultimately fail to force the Ukrainian people to submit to the Putin regime. Please pray for peace. Work for peace. Give for peace. 

And as you live your life in DeKalb or Allen counties, be a person of peace in your choice of words, your actions, your faith life, your behavior on the road, etc.

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Full to the Brim is the theme of our Lenten journey. We’ll be exploring God’s expansive and abundant grace as we look at parables, a story about a fig tree and a mother hen, precious oil, and stones shouting out with praise. Join us at 8:45 or 10:45 in-person or online, and invite some friends to come with you.

Also, this Sunday, we begin a Bible study for young-ish men at 10 am in Room D007. Join us downstairs as we look at the larger-than-life character of Simon Peter, and as we together figure out what it means to keep Christ at the center of our family life, work life, and play life.

Finally, please continue to support our Alaska Youth Mission Team with their “Give a Little, Give a Lot” effort, their Trivia Night fundraiser, and their Rise'n Roll sale.

In Christ,
Pastor Mark

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