Points from the Pastor

Dr. Bruce Swihart,
Senior Pastor

KEEP WATCH! "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24:42).

Let us make a commitment to the Lord and to ourselves to remain watchful as faithful believers in Christ. This may be the year that the Lord will return and take us to heaven to be with Him. It may be the year of the greatest opportunity for you as a Christian servant. Every day presents a new opportunity to live by faith, to encourage others, to draw near to the Lord or to witness to someone about the good news that Jesus saves. We need not miss the opportunity that comes because of inactivity or being unprepared.

The ocean liner, Californian, was within 1500 miles of Boston Harbor when a crewmember observed flashes of light from a distant steamer. Repeated attempts to contact it failed. In fact, it appeared to be sailing away. By 1:40 a.m. its lights vanished. It wasn't until later that the captain learned what happened. Neither he nor his second officer considered the flashing lights alarming or that it was coincidental that they had even seen them.

Earlier the Californian had parked because of the danger of oceanic ice. The unscheduled stop gave them a ringside seat to an unimaginable event. The crew didn't realize the flares were distress signals or they would have come to her aid--because they were only 9 miles away. The floundering ship also sent radio distress calls that were within answering range--except for one important detail. The ship's radio operator, fresh from training school, was fast asleep! So on April 12, 1912, from his vantage point on the bridge, the Californian's second officer unwittingly watched the Titanic sink!

We have a spiritual responsibility to remain vigilant each day as we serve the Lord. Serve, expecting God to do great things in your life and in our church.

`~Bro. Bruce